Artist Statement        CV/Resume

Tiantian Li

Tiantian Li is an artist based in New York and Philadelphia. Originally from Guangdong Province, China, Li received her first master’s degree in 2016 from the elite Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Moving to Philadelphia, she received her second MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 2018, and now exhibits regularly in the Philadelphia area, Europe, and Asia. Recent highlights include shows at the Philadelphia International Airport, InLiquid Art+Design, and the Rowan University Art Gallery.

She is known for her Love Me More series: watercolor paintings of lingerie adorned with portraits of historical men and women. Each piece suggests a specific historical dialogue about the figures, such as Frida Kahlo or Henry VIII, in the context of women’s clothing and bodies. The elegantly rendered constellations of lace and vivid floral patterns are a delicate armor for women; they invite love but keep it silk’s width away.

Her most recently released monotype series invites the viewer to come in and share the feelings and thoughts in these little fragments. Monotype is a printing technique where artists paint an image in ink upon a polished metal plate, which is then pressed facedown onto paper or some other medium. The prints are unique and impossible to perfectly replicate after the fact, so many artists like to use them as analog snapshots of a specific scene, feeling, or idea they are trying to capture.

Moments in Monotype reflects Love Me More in its strong, simple, and straightforward compositions, yet diverges in access granted to the viewer. Li departs from the lush and vibrant detail of Love Me More, arriving at a far more simplified linear approach. Emotions, feelings, and moods are communicated through subtle gesture, and shapes begin to morph into surreal objects of wonder. Li’s embrace of this untraditional, faux naïf style is not geared for such aesthetic appreciation as the watercolors; it is a style to impart feeling, an intimacy not granted by the intimates. The unique prints of Moments in Monotype are a warm hand, leading the viewer towards the shortest of moments where we feel an indescribable closeness.