totem index
narrative projects is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of Xiao-yang Li, a Chinese born painter who lives and works in London. In her work, Li explores the relationship between bodies in space and the way they translate to the two-dimensional surface of a painting. The motif of transformation or metamorphoses is recurrent in the artist’s practice; she often turns to mythological tales as a key point of inspiration. Giorgio Agamben’s text The Unspeakable Girl has been one of the major theoretical influences on Li’s practice. The Unspeakable Girl, Kore, has her qualities described by Agamben as liminal, resting on the threshold between woman and girl, mother and child, life and death, animal and divine – entirely annulling their distinctions. Kore has fascinated Li, and often becomes a subject in her paintings; a subject that can’t be defined by age, family, sexual identity or social role.