Via Li

Lives and works in San Jose, CA

Artist statement

My paintings explore emotion as a force that changes how the body inhabits space. Rather than depicting a particular event or feeling, I work with fragmented figures, shifting fields of color, and lines that suggest both movement and restraint. A body may emerge from the painting, dissolve into its surroundings, or remain suspended between the two. I work primarily with charcoal and acrylic on unprimed canvas. Thin washes soak into the fabric, while drawn marks interrupt and redirect their flow. I move between staining, drawing, erasing, and layering, allowing each material to leave a different kind of trace. This process keeps the image open: a line can become a contour, a gesture, or a point of pressure without settling into a fixed description. My work grows from an interest in the ways emotions are felt physically and alter our perception of the spaces around us. Through the tension between figure and atmosphere, I make paintings in which the body is never fully separate from its environment.

Artwork