Li Xiaohe: EXUBERANT
Beijing
December 6, 2025 - January 18, 2026
Li Xiaohe: EXUBERANT
Artist : Li Xiaohe
A graduate of the Mural Painting Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Li Xiaohe draws deeply from the forms and color palettes of Chinese folk art. Traces of traditional New Year paintings, fertility icons, and simplified paper-cutting styles surface effortlessly in her work. In terms of subject matter, the women she portrays are neither passive, delicate objects conforming to mainstream aesthetics, nor aggressive symbols defined by inner conflict. Instead, they are strong-bodied and full-figured, their skin glowing under abundant light as they labor, play, and rest. This imagery inherits folk art’s celebration of life and labor—a vision of health “illuminated by light.” With feet rooted in the earth and smiles arising from within, these women embody a self-sufficient joy, free from the gaze of others. Such vitality reflects a return to the authentic female body, transcending the binary logic of “being viewed” or “resisting.”
While depictions of the female body often fall into narratives of trauma or deconstruction, Li Xiaohe offers another path. She does not ignore the anxieties tied to female identity, but responds to “deconstruction” with “reconstruction,” and heals fragmentation with wholeness. In her “Peach Blossom Spring”—a vision where nature and humanity coexist in harmony rather than conflict—the figures radiate a sense of ease and exuberance, born from profound security and trust in life itself. “The less happy she feels in reality, the more she wishes her painted figures to be happy,” Li remarks. This impulse allows her to move beyond personal expression toward an active shaping of life and an imaginative ideal of social relations.
The “traditional” and “Chinese” sensibility in Li Xiaohe’s paintings lies in this construction of an idyllic structure and her contemporary reinterpretation of folk aesthetics. Moving beyond anguish and outcry, she draws from the vibrant resources of folk culture, using rich colors, fluid lines, and symbolic compositions to tell a story of growth, labor, and harmonious existence. It is not merely a formal reference, but a continuation of a spiritual core—an Eastern sense of hope rooted in inner fulfillment.
“Exuberant” is the vibrant chorus of life echoing from the hills, a state of being fully saturated with sunlight. Through her unique artistic language, Li Xiaohe reminds us that the power of women lies in a life that is healthy, free, and generative.
ABOUT ARTIST
Li Xiaohe, Born in Luoyang, Henan Province in 1991. In 2014, she received her Bachelor’s degree from the First Studio of the Mural Painting Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 2019, she received her Mater’s degree from the same department. She now lives and works in Beijing.
