Tingyi Li

This work explores the presence of human beings within the natural world, and how our bodies and senses can become a medium through which we connect with nature.

I am interested not in treating nature as something to be observed, but in how we perceive and respond to nature when our senses are immersed within it, and how this experience allows us to recognise that we are also part of the natural world. Vision, touch, sound and physical contact with materials all become ways of establishing connections between humans, trees, soil, plants and other forms of life.

The work explores a form of communication that exists beyond language. Nature does not necessarily need to communicate through human language; we can experience it through texture, traces, forms, scents and bodily sensations. Through this process, I began to question whether our senses can bring us closer to a certain “spirit” within the natural world, and whether this connection has always existed between humans and nature.

To move beyond the limitations of the two-dimensional image, I transferred the images onto transparent fabric. The semi-transparent prints, suspended in space, interact with the surrounding light and air, transforming static images into a fluid and dynamic spatial installation. The fabric acts like a fragile skin, giving memory a physical presence within the space.