Li Ting Ting is known for her virtuoso skills with large, single-colour ink paintings that render desirable acquisitions owned by the nouveau riche, and within which the paintings themselves are possibly included. Examples include Chandelier (2018), Crown (2016), Violin (2019), Chandelier No.3 (2012), Sofa (2011), and Untitled (2012).
Sometimes her images overlap. With these, the artist attempts a layering of time, striving to ‘help to create an unknown, infinite, deep and abundant world.’
Li explains: ‘Since 2017, I have been attempting to incorporate a three-dimensional element to my paintings. Space in conventional landscapes has been de-constructed and replaced. The interplay of positive and negative three-dimensional spaces challenges viewers in their visual judgement ... The traditional mode of presentation and viewing of Chinese ink painting is being challenged here, allowing space to create its own interpretation.’
Further Developments
Sometimes there are rectangular niches placed into the painted panel or canvas. Works such as Other Place 1 (2018) feature inset wooden carvings, while others such as Emerald Green Accumulated on Spring Mountains (2019) have wooden boxes added to the paintings with their paper-covered surfaces carefully painted.
