Into My Arms

In these works, Li Li Ren envisions inter-body and inter-temporal connection through the aquatic. Driven by an interest in the physics of water flow as symbolic of a desire to understand not only the distant presence of human memory and intimacy, but that of natural organisms beyond the anthropoid, the artist uses a wide range of materials to sculpt, weave and cast ambiguous sea-life forms and geologies. 

Central to Ren’s ongoing body of work is a preoccupation with semiotics, and more specifically communication beyond verbal and written language. In her submerged realm, marine lifeforms surpass spatial disjunction through electric currents running between them, interpreted by specialised receptors of sensation that await information. 

Photos: Dev Joshi