"Your Blood + Mine": Li Pieces Together Identities

Displaying a vivid painting of a figure screaming in blood red, senior Justin Li debuted his first exhibit titled “Your Blood + Mine” in Exeter’s Lamont Gallery on Thursday, Jan. 23. The exhibit featured his art from his years at the Academy—2017–present—and his personal growth as an artist. The pieces highlighted the development of Li’s personal painting style and showcased a powerful visual timeline of finding oneself.

“I wanted to show how I developed as an artist, both conceptually and technically,” Li said. His pieces are inspired by his experiences as a queer person of color and the collision of those identities with Exeter’s culture. 

During his artist talk, he touched on his inspiration for each of the artworks. The first one, a self-portrait from 2017, depicts the pressure felt to assimilate into American standards and is a reflection on how he chose to hide certain aspects of himself in order to do so. 

Many of Li’s pieces are self-portraits, which show the ways in which he has changed from then to now. “I like to see how I change … physically, but also through my style, colors, composition—stuff like that,” he explained.

While discussing his different portraits, Li brought up the topic of whether or not he “sees himself” in his work. He talked about how he has changed so much—even in as short a period as one year—and how his work is demonstrative of these changes. “The message behind this piece was forming an identity,” Li said. “2018 Justin, who was still trying to piece together parts of his identity, is still there … but I think I’ve changed a lot as well. And through my art, I’d like to shine a light on that.”

Another piece at his exhibit was a triptych depicting Asian women. Li hoped to change the narrative surrounding them and how they are portrayed. “I wanted to empower Asian women and present them in a more colorful light,” he said. Questioning the narrative of popular media which portrays Asian women as submissive or silent, he wanted to have the models claim their narrative and their portrayal by choosing their own poses.

The final pieces that he described were the most recent and the two that he completed during his Art 999. One depicted the pain of the HIV/AIDS crisis; the other was a portrait of his close friend, Alisha Simmons. “This piece explores the HIV/AIDS crisis and how it still continues to plague queer youth—specifically those of color,” Li said. “I wanted to share my personal fear and how I personally see the crisis.”

Li experimented with departure from his previous style while crafting the piece. “It’s a bit more abstract and a lot more loose or casual in terms of painting style,” he noted.

Lower Ela Andreassen noted similar themes. “I thought his most recent piece was really cool because it sort of had a more obvious meaning to it,” she said. “He has much more of a style now … I think he’s found it and strayed away a bit from the realistic and leaning towards ones similar to his AIDS piece.” 

Senior Summer Hua shared similar sentiments. “As a friend of [Justin], I’ve seen him grow a lot through his art and how he uses his art as a medium to empower others,” she said. Her favorite piece of Li’s was also the one surrounding the HIV/AIDS crisis. 

“There are still many people in the LGBTQ+ community that have stereotypes surrounding them and this piece kind of displays their emotions about it,” Hua reflected. Hua added that his art would resonate with many, both in the present and future. “I think that his art will go on to impact a wider community and more people will be able to listen to the message behind his art,” she said.