Li Shurui: The Pulse of Water

Three years ago, Li Shurui relocated her home and studio to the shores of Erhai Lake in Southwest China. Since then, water has become the central subject of her work. In her solo exhibition at White Space, the artist turns her focus to water as a divine presence and primordial force, a source of energy and a metaphor for existence. Departing from a romantic or traditionally feminine view of the element, Li captures its profound, spiritual, and cosmic vibrations. In her paintings, water is not a backdrop but an active, dynamic presence charged with tension. In Something Comes from Nothing, a shimmering green expanse fills the entire canvas, evoking the sky’s reflection on water as a vision of a meaningful void. In Mommy Be Brave (2025), flecks of light pierce water vapor, becoming clouds and then rain, in an eternal cycle between sky and earth. Between physics, Buddhism, and introspection, Li Shurui portrays life as a continuous flow.