Behind The Appearance XI Painting

J Jie Li is a contemporary artist based in New York. She is a Signature member and board member of the Watercolor USA Honor Society; also a Signature member of the American Artists Professional League. After graduating from Parsons School of Design, she worked as a Fashion designer and Consultant before returning to fine art. Since then, her works have exhibited internationally and won numerous awards. Also, her works are in several private and public collections, including Consulate General of Japan, and the Albacete Provincial Council of Spain. J. Li expresses love, hate, and desire as rooted within the depths of human nature. Such expression is achieved by overlapping figuration and abstraction in her paintings, using the natural changes and disasters that occur in her landscapes as metaphors for human emotions and sensibility. J. Li’s artistic thoughts are deeply influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy theory, Zen and Daoism. J. Li primarily works with watercolor. Yet, as visible in artworks from her collections, she challenges the conventional views of this medium. In her paintings, the medium is not so transparent, not so spontaneous in some parts, and not so ‘watercolor’ anymore. The brush strokes are delicate, sensitive and sharp; the essence of Chinese calligraphy is reflected in her works. In order to strengthen the persuasiveness and appeal of the work, J. Li added mixed media on the basis of watercolor.