YunPing Li

YunPing Li (Hubei, China, 1998) is a visual artist based in Madrid. His work focuses on self-representation of Queer and BIPOC communities through photography. He investigates the intersection between the photographic medium and performance, as well as exploring the concept of belonging in relation to the human body, physical spaces, and family ties. He is author of 回家 (huí jiā). 

Email: contact@yunpingli.com
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Work

  1. 回家 (huí jiā)
  2. Self-Portraiture Performance
  3. Mā (媽)


回家 (huí jiā)
2018- Ongoing

 



回 (huí) translates as “circle”, “time”, “to go back”, “to turn around” and/or “to respond” and 家 (jiā) as “home” and/or “family”. Together, they mean homecoming, and this return represents an autobiographical journey through my identity-search processes.

This is an ongoing project (2018-) that depicts my gender transition while delving into the concept of intimacy, connecting the private and home and understanding the body as a place to inhabit. It takes place between the different households where I have lived. Thus, each chapter opens a new door to delve into a new aspect of my identity.

回家 (huí jiā) captures the aesthetic exploration and physical changes my body goes through time. I explore the different possibilities of my image in it, by multiplying it, breaking it, shaping it... This way, the project challenges the limits of gender through the creation and development of someone who inhabits femininity through a transmasculine body, that is unmade to be made again, that goes toward its place of origin.

By portraying people that surround me, I show the other side that accompany me and through which I also build my own sense of kinship. These photographs, which play with the codes of family portraiture, serve to question consanguinity by emphasizing the idea of adoption as a choice. The camera accompanies me by creating affective relationships and documenting vital changes.

This concept addresses transitioning as a return to a place which is familiar to the body, circular and constructed as a home. The project functions as a visual diary of everyday experiences entangled in multiple identity transitions, where gender, racialization, and adoption intertwine, where both author and work mutually shape each other. Showing all the effects of treatments, my entire aesthetic change, and the evolution of someone who, at this moment, is also advancing in their own youth, 回家 (huí jiā) is an expansion through space and time.








Self-Portrait Being Reborn (2019)

«This portrait was taken right when I started to dig deeper into my gender transition. It condenses the emotions of having to consciously face anintense and deep journey in search for my true soul».
Self-Portrait at my Last Place (2021)

«This self-portrait gathers the period of time when I lived at my first place in Madrid, where I started my gender transition journey on a social and medical level».




Self-Portrait with Sock as a Penis (2019)

«This image documents ‘packing,’ which, in the FTM (female-to-male) trans community, is the practice of putting a penile prosthesis to achieve an outward appearance as well as reducing feelings of gender dysphoria. The first time I did it was with a sock.



The Body as a Suit (2019)

«When I began to explore my gender identity and my transsexuality, I also began to share some intimate moments with my camera, playing with makeup and nudity trying to get closer to a femininity that suited me from a place that was no longer being a woman. This helped me deal with gender dysphoria feelings as I played with my body and my nakedness almost as if it were a suit».








Self-Portrait at my New Place (2021)

«This self-portrait was taken when I moved to my “new” place. The presence and sense of comfort my body takes up in space gathers the importance of home throughout the project. This image condenses the moment when I started to dig into my Chinese heritage».




三浦家 (2021)

«In Japanese 三浦家 translates as Miura family. Inspired by “Family” (家) series by Masahisa Fukase, this portrait captures María and Ryu’s heritage through their surname Miura, inherited by their great-grandmother to their grandparents and to them».





The Passion of The Cut Sleeve (2022)

«“The Passion of The Cut Sleeve” 断袖之癖 is inspired by the Chinese legend known as the same name. It dates back to Han Dynasty and it is said that one afternoon, after napping together as usual, the Emperor woke up while Dong was peacefully sleeping on his sleeve. In order to avoid waking him up, Aidi decided to cut his sleeve off to let his lover rest instead of disturbing his sleep».





Two Tigers Crossing a River (2023)

«This self-portrait addresses the friendship I have with Julie Zhen. The title quotes an excerpt from a letter that Julie wrote to me a few years agoand that alludes to one of the foundations that sustains our relationship: sharing the Tiger as a Chinese horoscope»

Self-Portrait Masturbating (2023)

«This self-portrait discusses desire and addresses my own sexuality and the gay imagery I fantasize about while masturbating».






Self-Portrait at El Palomar (2023)

«El Palomar is the house where I moved in 2023. This self-portrait understands adoption as an experience of adaptation by adjusting the body to the shapes of a space».


             

Testo-Yonqui (2023)

«Testo-Yonqui references the book by Paul B. Preciado that discusses his experience on HRT (hormonal replacement therapy) taking testosterone. In queer and BIPOC communities it is really common to have this practice done by some of your closest friends because of the difficulties accesing the Spanish medical system».




                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
Be Water, my Friend (2023)

«“Be Water, my Friend” establishes a performative relationship between my body and water, citing the philosophy of the influential martial artist Bruce Lee, an icon of Chinese masculinity in the West. I perform a goodbye ritual to my chest in anticipation of a top surgery, channeling the adaptability of water and the power of a body to remake itself».

                                                                                                                               
 

Top Surgery (2024)

«This self-portrait captures the connection that Nenu and I have maintained over time in relation to our sexual and gender identities. The exchange stems from our encounter after having breast surgery—I had a mastectomy and she had a breast augmentation—feeling a symbiosis in this unique and special accompaniment that characterizes our relationship».

        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Self-Portrait with Broken Glass (2023)

“Self-Portrait with Broken Glass" discusses multiplicity within identity. We all are a combination of different versions we have embodied and that shape who we are constantly becoming».