YUELIN LI
INFO
Yuelin Li is an artist who creates kinetic sculptures and installations that explore the emotional resonance of objects in motion. Deeply sensitive to the solitude permeating existence, she investigates the fragile, often fleeting nature of connection—between humans and objects, objects and objects, and their overlapping agencies. In her work, movement is not merely a mechanical function but a subtle language, a force that reveals the impermanence and quiet tensions embedded in the material world.By observing how the movements of objects evoke emotional parallels to human experiences, she translates these ephemeral interactions into poetic metaphors—gestures of closeness and distance, holding and letting go.Yuelin’s work does not seek resolution but lingers in the liminal spaces between stillness and motion, connection and dissolution. She embraces contingency and impermanence, allowing objects to unfold in time, revealing their own quiet agency. Through these orchestrated yet unpredictable interactions, she invites viewers to witness silent dialogues that transcend the boundaries of the human—where the movement of an object is not simply mechanical but a fleeting trace of presence, a reflection of change, and a moment of attunement. Yuelin Li is an artist who creates kinetic sculptures and installations that explore the emotional resonance of objects in motion. Deeply sensitive to the solitude permeating existence, she investigates the fragile, often fleeting nature of connection—between humans and objects, objects and objects, and their overlapping agencies. In her work, movement is not merely a mechanical function but a subtle language, a force that reveals the impermanence and quiet tensions embedded in the material world.By observing how the movements of objects evoke emotional parallels to human experiences, she translates these ephemeral interactions into poetic metaphors—gestures of closeness and distance, holding and letting go.Yuelin’s work does not seek resolution but lingers in the liminal spaces between stillness and motion, connection and dissolution. She embraces contingency and impermanence, allowing objects to unfold in time, revealing their own quiet agency. Through these orchestrated yet unpredictable interactions, she invites viewers to witness silent dialogues that transcend the boundaries of the human—where the movement of an object is not simply mechanical but a fleeting trace of presence, a reflection of change, and a moment of attunement. Yuelin Li is an artist who creates kinetic sculptures and installations that explore the emotional resonance of objects in motion. Deeply sensitive to the solitude permeating existence, she investigates the fragile, often fleeting nature of connection—between humans and objects, objects and objects, and their overlapping agencies. In her work, movement is not merely a mechanical function but a subtle language, a force that reveals the impermanence and quiet tensions embedded in the material world.By observing how the movements of objects evoke emotional parallels to human experiences, she translates these ephemeral interactions into poetic metaphors—gestures of closeness and distance, holding and letting go.Yuelin’s work does not seek resolution but lingers in the liminal spaces between stillness and motion, connection and dissolution. She embraces contingency and impermanence, allowing objects to unfold in time, revealing their own quiet agency. Through these orchestrated yet unpredictable interactions, she invites viewers to witness silent dialogues that transcend the boundaries of the human—where the movement of an object is not simply mechanical but a fleeting trace of presence, a reflection of change, and a moment of attunement. Yuelin Li is an artist who creates kinetic sculptures and installations that explore the emotional resonance of objects in motion. Deeply sensitive to the solitude permeating existence, she investigates the fragile, often fleeting nature of connection—between humans and objects, objects and objects, and their overlapping agencies. In her work, movement is not merely a mechanical function but a subtle language, a force that reveals the impermanence and quiet tensions embedded in the material world.By observing how the movements of objects evoke emotional parallels to human experiences, she translates these ephemeral interactions into poetic metaphors—gestures of closeness and distance, holding and letting go.Yuelin’s work does not seek resolution but lingers in the liminal spaces between stillness and motion, connection and dissolution. She embraces contingency and impermanence, allowing objects to unfold in time, revealing their own quiet agency. Through these orchestrated yet unpredictable interactions, she invites viewers to witness silent dialogues that transcend the boundaries of the human—where the movement of an object is not simply mechanical but a fleeting trace of presence, a reflection of change, and a moment of attunement.

Static Dynamic Simulation

I collected some metal scraps from an industrial waste recycling station in Beijing, including discarded lamps, bicycle chains, abandoned car parts, steel bars, and more. This was my first work using metal as a medium. It made me realize my special affinity for metal materials.

8/23/2020
Recycled metal, custom CNC gears
1.64' x 0.98' x 1.97'

life is not a category but a dynamic process, continuously rewritten through technological and material assemblages.

Using metal to simulate human dynamics—bending parts, assembling the skeleton, using steel bars as bones, and iron wires as muscles—I felt that this cold sculpture was imbued with human emotion and life. When I stared at it long enough, it seemed as though it had begun to move with the body I had given it.

© 2025 Yuelin.