Breath-Taking by Li Huai

Monday 21 June to Sunday 18 July
The Substation Gallery
Opening: Thursday 24 June, 7pm
Artist Talk: Friday 16 July, 7.30pm
Admission: Free
Gallery hours: 12pm to 9pm (closed on public holidays)
Venue supported by The Substation

Breath-Taking is an installation of 200 portraits displayed in individual inflated plastic bags. Each portrait is abstractedly painted in acrylic and Chinese ink, and presented on media like plastic, paper and duct tape. The audience is invited, through the exhibition, to question how our past impacts on our judgements, expectations and experiences. The process of reading, understanding and relating to “others” is also a pivotal theme of the exhibition.

Li Huai, who received her BA in fine arts at the Beijing Film Academy and her MFA in art at the California Institute of the Arts, is currently on the faculty in the Visual Arts Department at the University of California, San Diego.

Her specialties include installation, painting, drawing, mixed media, and Chinese calligraphy and brush painting. Her art work generally deals with various issues related to East–West cultural interaction in an increasingly trans-national age. She has exhibited in San Diego, South Africa, Japan, Italy, Mexico and Montreal.

This is Li Huai’s first exhibition at The Substation.