13 February – 1 March 2020
about the exhibition
Rich in humour and personality, Dai Li’s delicately hand built and painted stoneware figures reveal characters engaged in everyday activities or unguarded moments. These sculptured works reveal their own identities and engage with the viewer in very personal ways, often transporting you to a distant memory or situation. ‘Little things in life’ is Dai-Li’s first solo exhibition at Beaver Galleries and centres around the idea that each moment, no matter how insignificant – eating an apple or having a suspicious thought – are instances to be valued. For the artist and her curiously quirky ceramics, “these moments made me realise life is perfect in many ways”. As art critic Kerry-Anne Cousins says of Dai-Li’s work in the 2018 group exhibition, “the emotions seem transient – a fleeting expression captured in the facial features of each character rather than their body language. The artist transcribes small details…add[ing] a wistful and vulnerable note. Yet for all their portrayal of emotion, the figures seem inscrutable and enigmatic.”
Dai Li was born in Sichuan, China and now lives and works in Queensland. From 2005 to 2009 she attended the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in China and shortly after graduating came to Australia. She has been exhibiting regularly since her move to Australia and in 2016 was a finalist in the Biennial North Queensland Ceramic Award. Dai Li’s work is included in the Queensland-based art collections of Ipswich Art Gallery and the QUT Art Museum.
