An artist crossing many genres, Li Tung works in two- and three-dimensional arts including painting, visual and installation arts, photography, calligraphy, performing art, impromptu dance, stage design, as well as game and multimedia design and creative writing.

Born in 1971 in Taipei, Li was solidly trained in art schools since young age and graduated from the School of Fine Arts at the National Taiwan University of Arts. After a surprising and alarming turn of his health in his late 30s, Li used his experience to revitalize his works and focuses on human body as the inspiration of his creations. Li’s recent paintings reflect his thorough comprehension of surrealism and Pan-Asian arts. As a published novelist, Li is writing dialogues with images to tell stories and communicate with others.

In the past 20 years, Li’s artworks have been exhibited at various galleries in Taiwan, including the Taipei Arts Gallery and YIYU Arts Gallery. He is a member of the “Fifth Moon Group”, Taiwan’s most influential and longstanding artists collective. He is the winner of the Taipei Arts Awards (Taipei Fine Arts Museum) and Nanying Awards (Tainan City Cultural Affairs Bureau). In Vancouver, he has exhibited at the Harmony Arts Festival, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, Taiwanese & Canadian Arts Series, and Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society Arts Gallery. 

As a writer, Li has published in Taiwan and China. His novels have won the Literature and Art Camp Creation Award (Unitas Lifestyle), Taiwan Literature Award (National Museum of Taiwan Literature), New Taipei City Literature Award (New Taipei City), and MWT Essay Award (Mystery Writers of Taiwan).

Since 2010, Li started to perform live painting with improvising musicians and dancers. He joined the acclaimed MAFIA Ensemble, the leading force in Taiwan’s experimental and improvisational arts scene, with a particular focus on interdisciplinary practices. Li has collaborated with numerous Canadian (NOW Society, Orchid Ensemble, Sammy Chien, Chimerik, Sound of Dragon Society, Paul Plimley), Taiwanese, and Japanese artists and has performed at the Western Front, Sound of Dragon Music Festival, Roundhouse, and Taiwan’s Create Music Festival.

Although not easily fall into any pre-existing categories, the style of my paintings can be seen as the revival of surrealism in Asian contemporary arts. Surrealism encompasses two different approaches: 1) Abstraction or departure from the reality, as seen in the works of Joan Miró i Ferrà, follows the stream of consciousness in total abstract creations; 2) Figurative Art or representation of the real world, as seen in the works of Salvador Dalí, uses the detailed depiction of realistic objects in surreal environment. My exploration has led me to use the figurative approach while keeping the free spirit in abstract surrealism.

However, the intention of my works is not to revive surrealism. Surrealism has come to me as I seek for the images to best express myself. I see visual arts as a pure form of expression without the need to use words or other media for further explanations. To achieve this, I have to let go of my other instincts as a writer and focus totally on images. Each work is originated purely by images, with no pre-constructed stories, ideas, and contents. But it is not totally random. Each image triggers the next image. At the same time, I carefully position each object, letting it to develop relationships with other elements in the picture. During the creative process, I do not ask why these elements should exist. Let go of any reasoning and let the subconscious take over in decision making. Only after each painting has been completed, I try to understand its meaning. Piece by piece, these works construct various aspects of each theme in my series.

My works reflect the complex context in which contemporary Taiwanese artists live and work. Under long period of colonization, foreign cultural influences, and commercialization, Taiwan has developed into a state of uniqueness and uncertainty, both culturally and politically. Asian artists tend to incorporate symbols and techniques that are the most characteristic representation of Asian culture in their works when they present themselves to the Western World. But this approach can not satisfy me as an artist. The environment in Taiwan is a hybrid culture with far more diversity. We embody layers and layers of interwoven influences from all directions.

My main influences and interests include Japanese ACG, video games, interactive online games, ukiyo-e, mono-ha, Chinese literature, Japanese literature, calligraphy, Steampunk, Hollywood movies, capitalism, existentialism, postmodernism, science fiction, fantasy, ancient civilizations, mysterious events, human psychology, body development training, symbolism, contact improvisation, conservatory education in fine arts, popular culture, rock `n roll, jazz, poetry, social movements, gender discourse, internet community ecology, and all kinds of subcultures. My works also manifest my own life experiences, memories, visions, fantasies, and traumas. Unable to capture with words, these images are derived from the subconscious, and therefore, naturally connected to surrealism.