Ella Li
The past 3 years of studying Fine Arts have been an escape and my sincerest attempt at self-therapy.
Personal and collective memory, cultural identity, introspection, migration, diaspora, entwine, intersection, archive fever: buzzwords that sugarcoat.
I lay my most secretive ruminations bare.
I reflect on the deeply disturbing and life-sucking experience to exist as a Chinese immigrant student in an Australian public high school. My thoughts are the source material, personal artefacts, archive of my misery, made-up symbols, and methodologies.
My art holds my unreadiness, my insecurities, my grief.
Viewer, if you found a single ounce of solace or catharsis through my work or statement, then my objective is fulfilled.
P.S. I do love writing in artspeak too, but in 10 years I want to look back at my selfishly honest Grad Show rant and smile at my own silliness.
Squiggly Lines, Our Stories, Monoprint, photopolymer, etching, and colored pencil on paper, 2025, Image courtesy of the artist.
Squiggly Lines, Our Stories, Monoprint, photopolymer, etching, and colored pencil on paper, 2025, Image courtesy of the artist.
Uncovered, Monoprint and etching on paper, 2025, Image courtesy of the artist.
taking me back, Found screens and paper money, pigment transfer using Fengyoujing (Chinese herbal oil) on Chinese xuan paper, 2025, Imgae courtesy of the artist.
Photo documentation of studio entrance, 2025, Image courtesy of the artist.
Huashan Mountain, Image courtesy of the artist.
Ella Li, Installation view, 2025. Image courtesy of the University of Melbourne. Photography by Astrid Mulder.
Faculty of Fine Arts and Music
University of Melbourne