“From known lights toward the ancestor of light”

In her latest body of work, Fei Li explores emotional rupture as an elemental force—vast, volatile, and deeply embodied. The serpent series emerges from the threshold where feeling becomes matter and movement becomes knowledge, translating inner turbulence into physical gesture. Working with acrylic and oil pastel on Yupo paper, Li embraces the tension between control and surrender, allowing the surface’s resistance to guide the flow of pigment. The serpent appears as a figure of instinct and resilience, a body that remembers how to move forward without hardening around old wounds.

Rather than offering resolution, the works hold space for inquiry. Movement functions as both form and ethic—a way of remaining near pain without becoming defined by it. Through these paintings, Li considers transformation, self-preservation, and the necessity of gentleness after disillusionment. The series invites viewers to encounter motion as a source of truth and renewal, suggesting that what awakens in the wake of loss can become fuel rather than residue.