Ping-Yi LI
Rice Seedlings in the Paddy Field
Oil woodcut, relief print
45x120cm
2023
Breathing:Landscape is the beginning of a journey of self-exploration for me.It is the first time I have attempted to capture natural landscapes. It feels like thescenery I see daily has been lingering within me, waiting for the moment myjourney began. I like to use colors to interpret the serenity and beauty of life ineastern Taiwan. The blue of the sea, the green of the mountains, the purple of thedawn, the orange of the sunrise, and the yellow of the ripening rice fields, thesecolors are too rich to be described in words alone. I aim to carefully preserve theever-changing and ambiguous beauty of natural scenes through inks and prints. Inparticular, this series of works challenges the concept of “plurality” in traditionalprintmaking. I make the previously hidden “woodblocks,” which were once justtools of printmaking, an integral part of the work, creating a “mirrored landscape”in which the woodblocks and prints are juxtaposed. On one side, the landscapes arecarved out layer by layer using the reduction printmaking technique, and on theother side, layers of ink are printed on the paper to create the landscapes. Themutual dialogue between the cuts in the wood and the layering of colors showcasesthe tranquility and beauty of heterogeneity in a mirrored way.