Lily Honglei: The Unseen

About

Exhibition Statement 

The Unseen presents some recent painting series and installation work by the Chinese immigrant artist collaborative, Lily Honglei. 

Having spent significant portions of their life in China and the US, Lily Honglei’s art practice focuses on Asian immigrant life and history, highlighting struggles, identity, and cultural memories of working-class immigrants, whose stories are often overlooked in contemporary art. 

Lily Honglei’s artistic visions interweave Western metropolitan landscapes with Chinese mythological characters recalling immigrants’ cultural heritage. Their recent paintings juxtapose elegant decorative motifs with brutal realities resulting from racial exclusion and violence. Focusing on the “unseen,” their work unfolds many real-life stories of working-class Asian immigrants struggling for survival or acceptance in their new country. Using a solid realistic style and visual forms inspired by Eastern traditions, Lily Honglei strives to capture the sadness and suffering in immigrant journeys.

Trained with Western painting techniques, Lily Honglei began to dive into Chinese traditional arts, including ink painting, opera costume, shadow puppetry, and decorative art, in recent years. They believe the beauty of their cultural heritage delivers much-needed comfort that helps heal the wounds of the Asian immigrant community and strengthen the bond with a wide range of audiences. Their research on Chinese American history allows them to deepen their understanding of many aspects of Asian immigrant life today. Lily Honglei states, "Our personal experience, research, and association with the working-class Asian immigrant community allow us to observe and portray life from a unique angle. Combining Eastern and Western visual languages, we hope our artistic expression can enrich contemporary art in the global society.”