6. april - 5. mai 2024

In Li's creations, holes hold a significance related to the blank space in a painting or the pauses within piano compositions. Just as a solid form, a hole carries its own shape and meaning, bending, and stretching to expand the sculptural surface within defined limits. Mingshu Li presents this concept by using holes to initiate a dialogue with materials, revealing new dimensions in space. In the context of Chinese culture, "Qi" means the essence of air. This concept symbolizes breath, energy, and the flow of vitality. She channels these dynamic energies through holes, conveying the very essence of airflow. The emptiness within a ceramic sculpture integrates with its form, as she captures the rhythmic pulse of "Qi" in her sculptures, a shared respiration uniting us all.

The focal point of this exhibition is the work, "Black Tubes' Form #PP," created in Porsgrunn using a test clay extruder. The sculpture's unique texture, born from an unrepeatable mistake, imbues it with an unparalleled sense of rarity. The clay extruder is a tool seamlessly merging "holes and airflow" in one fluid motion—extrusion. As clay meets the extruder, its reaction shows its inherent strength. Air bubbles burst within, etching airflow tales onto the tubular form. While the tube's curvature can be manipulated through adjustments in clay plasticity or the extruder's angles, its final form remained an enigmatic product of the intricate interplay between these elements, introducing an element of unpredictability into her artistic process.

Drawing inspiration from Henry Moore's perspective, where the observer should perceive shape simply as shape, devoid of mere description or reminiscence, Mingshu Li has dedicated years to embodying this philosophy in her work. Whether she's examining an apple or a piece of clothing, she approaches it visually, tracing its textures and rhythm, immersing herself in the interplay of light and shadow. Embracing the role of an observer, she continually loses herself in the act of shaping a shape. "Tubes Make A Shape A Shape" serves as the title for this exhibition, not only encapsulating the core elements of her artistic exploration but also reflecting her perspective on observing the world.

Bio:

Mingshu Li (1994), an emerging ceramic artist based in Oslo who went on to obtain a Masters in Medium and Material Based Art at the Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo in 2020. She has participated in exhibitions for the past four years both nationally and internationally. Her works are collected by the city of El Vendrell as a part of the Municipal Art Collection in Spain, KODE Art Museums in Norway, and Jingdezhen Ceramic University Museum in China. Mingshu is highly inspired by the environment around her and represents this in her works. She has been exploring non-traditional ways of using clay for making sculptures, understanding how clay can be utilized as a medium to make sense of who she is and where she lives.