An Island of Light1- 30 September 2026
Yichen Li 李依宸
©All rights reserved
Yichen Li 李依宸
©All rights reserved
Yichen Li 李依宸
©All rights reserved
Yichen Li 李依宸
©All rights reserved
Yichen Li 李依宸
©All rights reserved

Yichen Li 李依宸

Wood sculptor

Shanghai, China

Contemplative walks through carved spaces

  • Yichen's carved screen partitions turn garden aesthetics into walkable spaces
  • She was a finalist for the UK Heritage Crafts Woodworker of the Year Award in 2023
  • By restoring antique fragments, she keeps traditional handcraft memory alive

Yichen Li transforms salvaged Ming Dynasty wood into carved screens that act as architectural bridges between space and human movement. She received her MA in sculpture from the Royal College of Art and is currently a practitioner of Intangible Cultural Heritage wood carving. "My practice treats wood as a silent chronicle of time," she explains. Reinterpreting classical concealment and revelation, her screens evolve from shielding to porous openness. Her work has been exhibited worldwide and is held in collections including LVMH Group, X Museum and Luozhongli Museum. Yichen also received the 2025 V Magazine China Extraordinary Artist of the Year Award and the 2024 NEXT Prize Runner-up Award in Sculpture Design.

Yichen Li 李依宸 is an expert artisan: she began her career in 2015 and she started teaching in 2024.

INTERVIEW

My inspiration stems from childhood memories. Standing behind screen partitions, I watched light pass through gaps and figures blur beyond. This sheltered yet connected state became the origin for my exploration of space and the dialogue between hidden and revealed.

I hope to translate the logic of screens and gardens into interactive spaces that shift with people's movements. I use openwork carving to open gaps, allowing light and shadow to move through the room. By cutting and reassembling fragments of old wood, I allow history and cultural memory to breathe with a renewed force and quiet radiance.

In a noisy world, I use the indirect concealment of screens, together with the slow swaying of swings and wooden horses, to carve out a shelter where one can pause. With a quiet, skeletal strength, my work reflects moments of fracture and uncertainty. I want to invite viewers to pause, move through the space, and reconnect with their most truthful selves.

I love the hard work of giving shape to raw, wordless feelings. It gives me the ability to hold onto something tangible as time slips away. With every cut, the wood resists with a resilient disobedience that makes me feel vividly alive. I am drawn to the moment when the final layer of lacquer reveals the grain beneath.

Yichen Li 李依宸

Wood sculptor

Shanghai, China

ADDRESS

Address upon request, Shanghai, China

AVAILABILITY

By appointment only

LANGUAGES

Chinese, English

HOMO FABER FINDS

Homo Faber Finds is a new service aiming to inspire admirers of craft to connect and collaborate with exceptional artisans.
We invite you to submit an enquiry here.

Browse the e-catalogue