LI MINGYI

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   Li Mingyi is a contemporary Chinese artist renowned for her meticulous figure paintings and masterful application of mineral painting techniques, Li’s work stands as a testament to the enduring beauty of classical Chinese artistry reinterpreted for the modern world. Known for her fusion of realism and surrealism in painting. Her works explore the balance between reality and dreams, tradition and modernity, using visual art to examine the relationship between the self and the world.

Li Mingyi, graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, is one of China’s most promising emerging artists. The CAFA Art Museum’s acquisition of her graduation piece Time highlights her distinct artistic voice and technical mastery.

Awards and Recognitions:

2016: Awarded the Li Shang Grand Prize for outstanding fieldwork paintings.

2017: Secured Second Prize for her Sketch Series at the CAFA semester-end school inspection.

2018: Earned Third Prize for her Copy of Fahai Temple Murals, an exercise in preserving and understanding ancient mural techniques.

2019: Once again honored with the Li Shang Grand Prize for her evocative work Old Man and Dog.

She has eceived the First-Class Comprehensive Scholarship at CAFA and was recognized as an Outstanding Student

   In her creative process, Li Mingyi intertwines realistic figures with surreal spaces, striving to achieve a meaningful artistic form. This exploration has led to some of her most representative series, including Dream Shock, Great Void, and Non-Replicable.

   The Dream Shock series was inspired by the moment she awoke from a dream, capturing the fleeting state between dream and reality. Non-Replicable draws from Surrealist master René Magritte’s Not to Be Reproduced, integrating elements of traditional Chinese painting to experiment with the combination of realism and surrealism. 

She incorporates elements of Chinese traditional culture and history. In her master's degree graduation piece, Time, she depicted Zhulong—the mythical dragon from The Classic of Mountains and Seas, whose open eyes bring daylight and closed eyes bring night, with a body stretching for a thousand miles and glowing red.

The background features a mural of the Four Celestial Ministers of Taoist tradition, using painting as a medium to express her reflections on the world and the self.

   Additionally, her Birth series was inspired by the profound experience of witnessing a newborn, carrying her heartfelt blessings for new life. Li Mingyi’s works bridge the realms of reality and fantasy, using a deeply expressive visual language to explore the multifaceted nature of human existence and present her unique artistic philosophy.