Lihong Bai

Destruction and Reconstruction

Lihong (b. 1999) is a London-based, Chinese-born artist whose practice spans painting and performance. After training in traditional Chinese ink painting throughout her childhood, she holds a BA from Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts and an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art (2024).

Lihong’s work draws from classical Chinese aesthetics and Foucault’s Heterotopia, culminating in a practice that bridges tradition and contemporary thought through the merging of ink, gesture, and time-based media.

She explores movement in physical, emotional, and cultural contexts, viewing migration as a subtle and ongoing process of growth. Utilising fluid materials like ink and layered pigments, she examines the tension between presence and absence, as well as memory and immediacy. For Lihong, identity is shaped through relational encounters, inheritances, and departures, highlighting the interconnectedness of human experience.

Her work is featured at the Malta Biennale, Shanghai International Arts Festival, Beijing Time Museum, and Somerset House. It is collected by institutions such as the Beijing Contemporary Art Museum and the Bath East Asian Art Museum. The Art Council England endorses Bai as an Exceptional Talent.