Li Shih-Wen "Presence of Wind": Solo Exhibition

BACK_Y is pleased to present Presence of Wind, a solo exhibition by Li Shih-Wen, on view from September 10 to October 31, 2026. An opening reception will be held on September 12 at 3 PM.

Li Shih-Wen has long approached art-making as a way of processing and transforming lived experience. Feelings that resist direct articulation gradually take form through painting, becoming an outlet for his inner world. Personal objects, images, and fragments of memory overlap within his compositions, forming narratives that move between reality and psychological perception, while inviting viewers to reflect upon their own experiences.

Presence of Wind extends Li's ongoing exploration of bodily perception and lived experience. In 2024, while camping overnight with his companions at Pipidadong Saddle, relentless winds battered their tent throughout the night. The experience led him to reconsider wind not simply as a meteorological phenomenon, but as a force that acts directly upon the body and reshapes the boundary between the self and the surrounding environment.

Through painting, Li transforms the sensations and memories accumulated during his mountain journeys into visual form. Folds, shifting light, and traces of movement across the canvas evoke another kind of airflow, allowing the act of looking to extend beyond sight and into bodily memory.

 

Rather than depicting wind itself, Presence of Wind seeks to register an invisible yet persistent force, opening a space to reconsider the relationship between the self, nature, and the world.