Liu Yi works as a Course Leader and Associate Professor for the Public Art Department at Shanghai Institute of Visual Art (SIVA).
He’s also the director of the Shanghai Designer Association as well as researcher of the Institute for Public Art (IPA). Liu Yi is the founder of 61CREATIVE studio.
Liu Yi’s practice explores the relationships between body and space, spirits and materials, individual and public, and the presence and absence of culture. The unique style of combining classic figures with contemporary colors, which is presented in the daily digital drawing on his smartphone, has brought not only the artist’s curiosity and mythological imagination to life, but also his personal memories and experiences. The drawings, which seemed like children’s doodling, have shared overwhelming empathy with the audiences since the works reflected vivid life experiences. Meanwhile, Liu Yi has also taken his interest in creating narratives lying between digital media, materiality and subject.
Thus, his artistic practice has taken place in both graphic and spatial ways based on daily life and social scenery.