Ruby Li is an oil painter who incorporates elements of both realism and surrealism in her work. As someone of Chinese heritage who was raised in New Zealand before settling in Melbourne, she explores her desire to articulate the loneliness and confusion associated with being simultaneously othered in a western society and feeling rejected by the culture she was born into.
As she expanded the body of work, it began to echo the chaos and uncertainty intertwined with her identity as a whole. While the theme evolved to be less specific, the helpless yet cathartic process of illustrating something she doesn’t understand remained at the centre of her intent. She rarely assigns specific symbolism to individual works, yet a consistent atmosphere of mystery pervades her entire portfolio- all that is certain is that these paintings transmit uncertainty.
The imagery Ruby depicts revolves around juxtapositions- joy and grief, light and shadow, peace and chaos, day and night, beauty and ugliness. These opposites push and pull one another much like the artist’s sentiments surrounding her identity. As she mourns closeness to her family and culture, she cherishes her childhood surrounded by nature and her adulthood freely speaking her mind. Consequently, she invents nonsensical, chaotic, and melancholic scenes characterised by garishly bright colours and compositions that prioritise accurately depicting the intended mood over aesthetics.
The recurring image of stone guardian lions gesture at the artist’s culture and identity while depicting a general feeling of estrangement. Perpetually out of place, their often exaggerated expressions convey anger, lament, and confusion. Through illustrating these creatures in meticulous detail, Ruby endeavours not to answer unanswerable questions or solve unsolvable problems, but simply to ponder her place in the world, and encourage the audience to reflect on their own inner conflicts.