Li Ning (b. 1992, Hong Kong), is inspired by dreams and daily scenarios, often presenting multiple scenes and characters in the same composition. He constructs a bizarre world of unique characters in a boundless territory without a definitive start or end. Li’s artistic style incorporates his practice and experience as a tattoo practitioner. He applies delicate lines to form positive and negative spaces, adopting the sensibility and techniques of tattooing in his print works. Both mediums are remarkably similar: they are processes of pigment insertion and conversion of inked-lines into patterns onto human skin or canvas. His technique is also a form of collaging—instead of using ready-made images as his source material, he applies his own design patterns accumulated as a tattoo practitioner in his print works.
Li Ning obtained his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Hong Kong Art School in 2019, majoring in painting. Exhibitions include solo exhibition ‘Inhale’ (Yrellag Gallery, 2021, Hong Kong), ‘Flipped Trip’ (Hong Kong Open Printshop, 2020), group exhibitions at Art Basel Hong Kong (2021), ‘The World is A Show For My Chosen Eye’s Delight’ (Gallery Exit, 2021, Hong Kong), XX—The 20th Anniversary Exhibition of Hong Kong Art School (The Pao Galleries, 2021, Hong Kong), ’20/20 Hong Kong Print Art Exhibition’ (Hong Kong Heritage Museum, 2020), ‘Marking, Vitamin D Award 2019 Awardees’ (Tung Nam Lou Art Hotel, 2020, Hong Kong), ‘The Blazing World’ (Gallery Exit, Hong Kong, 2020), and Art Basel Hong Kong (2020). Li currently lives and works in Hong Kong.