Art Show: Sai Li

Local artist Sai Li celebrates opening night for her solo exhibition Fogged Mirror at Black Bird this Friday, July 11th from 7-9pm!

“For me, art-making has always been about brutal honesty, vulnerability, and confronting my deepest fears, sorrows, struggles, and moments of joy.”

Sai Li was born and raised in mainland China. With growing tensions between the United States and China, she said, she often finds herself struggling with her identity, oscillating between feeling “ashamed” of her country of origin and feeling proud of China’s rich history and culture.

Recently, she has started to face this feeling of disconnection and uncertainty. “Perhaps this in-between space is where I truly belong. Perhaps I don’t need to choose a side. Perhaps art-making can help illuminate what feels too difficult to face.”

Fogged Mirror explores the gap between the past and the present and the loss of identity post-immigration. It asks: “What do you see when the mirror is fogged? Is that you? Or are you still trying to figure that out yourself? Is it still your hometown; your home country, when you became a tourist to it? Is the land in which you speak your second language your home now? Do you belong to one of them, to both of them, or to the gap in between them?”

You can view Sai’s latest pieces on the walls of Black Bird this Friday night.