Gardening.

In the Eastern context, the process of Zaoyuan / Gardening is a journey of contemplation and meditation, exploring the relationships between humans, objects, and nature within a confined space. It is also an ongoing state of artistic creation: the artist utilises various mediums to construct dreamscapes and build their own utopia.

This Asian art exhibition at Milan Design Week 2024 brought together artists working across digital art, new media, interactive installation, and traditional practice, examining how Eastern aesthetics and cosmologies generate new modes of seeing within contemporary technological culture.

Raine Li’s Works

Yi — The Flame of Time, 2023

Digital Folk Art. Yi — The Flame of Time draws its inspiration from the Yi ethnic minority, a group native to the southwestern region of China. Combining elements of Yi folklore and traditions, this artwork incorporates Yi colours, totems, and aesthetics to depict a futuristic scene of the Torch Festival. The composition features a blend of laboratory settings, lush forests, roaring fires, symbolic totems, and mechanical robots, crafted through the lens of visual art. The intention is to preserve the vitality of Yi culture in a visually compelling and artistic manner.

The Buckwheat Has Bloomed, 2024 — with Jiayi Lin

Digital Art. The Buckwheat Has Bloomed is a digital folk art piece inspired by the Yi people’s creation epic, Meige. This digital artwork integrates two thematic components of the epic: “Creation” and “Crafting of the World”, showcasing the worldview of the Yi people. The piece explores the profound connections among culture, life, nature, and the cosmos, presenting a digital tableau of Yi cultural landscapes. By weaving traditional narratives with modern digital art techniques, this piece both celebrates and preserves the rich heritage of the Yi people.

Jiayi Lin is a London-based digital artist who creates work through a multidisciplinary approach, using digital technology to provoke reflection on future societal trajectories. His practice integrates future literacy and critical elements, creating thought-provoking work through speculative methods.