We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Via Li a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Via, thanks for joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I’ve dreamt about being an artist since I was a kid, but there were many difficulties along the way. In real life, it’s not easy to become a full-time artist! Between pressure from my parents, financial and other challenges, I chose textile design as my major in college, since that is easier to find work with. However, I never gave up on drawing and painting. By chance, I became a freelancer illustrator. I felt lucky to be doing something that was so close to what I love.

When I was applying for my master’s degree, I still wasn’t brave enough to study fine art, so I decided to study illustration. However, I was able to take many painting classes during my studies, which gave me much more confidence. After those classes, I decided to become a professional artist!

These classes showed me what it feels like to do something I genuinely love. I was completely immersed and enchanted, and was so happy to express myself through my art. I was also so happy to see people loving my work. My first collector, for example, gave me a lot of encouragement to become a professional artist.

Via, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m an artist, based in Savannah, GA. I just got my MFA degree at SCAD. I mostly paint, but I also do illustration and printmaking work, as well as textile design.

My paintings are contemporary, expressionist, abstract, and figurative. My work focuses on female emotions. Growing up as a woman, I’ve faced a lot of adversity in my life. My experiences have given me a lot of inspiration for my work. It serves as a record of my life.

In my work, I expressively show my emotions that connect with how I feel during a particular time rather than illustrating a whole event in my life. I always use myself as the model within my art. I portray obstacles I face and connect these with the bigger topics within feminism. Human emotions are reflections of the external world and guide human behavior. Women’s emotions come from places of deep meaning and are profoundly intense, providing a certain strength. How women handle and harness their emotions is the cornerstone of women’s power. So, I choose to document with emotions and focus on the power of expressing women’s emotions and the way humans think and feel about emotions. When people view my work, I want them to feel something and inspire them to think, deeply.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative?

Based on what I’m doing, my paintings are, on the one hand, touchingly beautiful, but on the other hand, painfully attractive. While visually appealing, the moment portrayed hints at something much heavier. Thus, forcing them to contemplate the unexpected relationship between beauty and pain, power and struggle in a particular moment, evocative of atmosphere and suspense.

Artists tend to pay more attention to the details, and what people tend to ignore, but are actually essential issues in our lives. Art can be more than beauty and decoration. It should have a deeper meaning and provoke our thoughts. This introspection can promote people’s inner spiritual growth. Artists should influence the world and make it a better place.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and an thriving creative ecosystem?

In my experience, being an artist is a long way and never easy to go through, and I know most artists will think so. However, art’s value is not only the paint on canvas or something we can touch; there is more that is invisible. In comparison, people don’t like to pay for something they can’t hold. I wish people could know that spiritual food is as important as actual food.

The other thing I want to say is that race and sexism should not be a consideration for entering the arts. All of us should have equal opportunities, including young artists. Inclusion and diversity are essential factors in making the arts grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.vialiart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/via.li_art/?hl=zh-cn
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/changviali/

Image Credits
Via Li