Michelle Li, Interdisciplinary Sculpture, 2025
Michelle Shengyu Li is a Chinese-Canadian interdisciplinary artist currently based in Vancouver, Canada and Baltimore, USA. Through sculpture, paper, print, and installation, she explores Asian diasporic mythos, object agency, ecology, flight and belief. Meditating on natural, cultural, and built environments, her work acts as offerings of attention and care.
Skill Building
A series of technical exercises build and demonstrate skills in Rhino, laser cutting, 3D printing, and CNC routing.
Project I: 02.24
Watermarked handmade kozo paper, walnut, LED light
7″ x 7″ x 2″
A visualization of a wish. Light left on until it died out. (72 hours.)
Process
This project in in conversation with my previous work “How to Make a Wish,” a set including a risograph poster which depicted the folds of each step in making a paper crane and handmade origami paper. These folds are comparable to the reference geometry I used to mirror my shapes in the laser cut-out. Recently, I’ve also been wearing this crochet bonnet which shares a similar symmetry. I often envision wishes to be radial, with the potential to expand.
I also previously designed this 8-petaled flower in Rhino last semester for my papermaking studio. It was serendipitous that the exact measurements I had used for this laser-cut frame and the watermarked paper aligned so perfectly despite having designed them without the other in mind.
I tried laser cutting various sizes of my design until I got the right fit. I also took measurements of the LED tealight that was given to every student to get make a pressure fit hole in a laser-cut plywood base that I was making for it. In addition to the plywood, I cut a pink acrylic ring, which offered an interesting refraction of light because of the material’s transparency. These were all assembled together with a walnut frame that I made which I had to go back and forth with my laser-cut design with in order to have everything fit.
Project II: Portrait
Brass bell, chains, PLA
3″ x 2″ x 4″ (dimensions variable)
In this project, I 3D printed a spikey ball and chain link in response to a ready-made bell. The result is a flail-like object that hits the bell whenever it’s rung.
Process
I 3D printed a link to a spikey ball based on the top link of the bell. After I took measurements of the loop, I modelled it in Rhino. I had to model multiple versions of the hook for it to have enough give to fit the brass loop through while not being too loose. I modelled a hole for an eye pin into the spike. After printing, I glued the eye pin in and coated my prints in Smooth-On XTC coating. From there, I connected links in between the two prints.
Project III: Garden Footpath Tile: lalalaaa *
For our group project, I based my footpath tile on a project I did last spring called “City Song” where I cast concrete bricks that said la la la laaa. The idea behind this was born from an appreciation of looking on the ground and noticing the wonder of mundane paths.
Process
Research
More Information
additional information and links