Li Jhao-Ci (b. 1994, Taitung)

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Born in Taitung in 1994, Li Jhao-Ci graduated from Dayeh University in 2017 with a double major in Visual Communication Design and Plastic Arts.

In 2026, he obtained his MFA in Painting from the Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA).

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Li’s practice spans text and painting, with a recent focus on spatial installations developed through the cultivation of succulents. Having cultivated cacti for nearly a decade, he has established a metaphorical cognitive framework within these plants. To him, the cactus is not merely an exotic species but a symbol of the "outsider," "invasion," "transplantation," and "grafting." In his installation works, different species of cacti are grafted onto one another to form strange, deformed colonies—a manifestation of a distorted community.

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His work is deeply inspired by foreign literature, particularly the complex narratives of nationhood, war, and colonial history found in Russian and Latin American novels. Moving fluidly between painting, sculpture, installation, and poetry, Li interrogates the tension between the individual and the collective. He reveals the irreconcilable conflicts between faith and interest, employing a tone of irony, playfulness, and metaphor to respond to the contradictions of contemporary life and the tensions within political language.

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Li will spend mid-May to mid-June 2026 traveling in New York to visit exhibitions and reflect on the next phase of his work, culminating in a solo exhibition at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts (KdMoFA) in October.