Huang Xiangli

 

Every photograph is akin to a theater, depicting its unique story within the frozen moment when the world stands still. In the realm of drama, we endeavor to shatter the age-old constraints of time and space, collectively embarking on a journey of shared imagination with the audience. With each click of the shutter, we persistently choose the unalterable past. We awkwardly etch the eternal in numerous fleeting instances, and we continue burgeoning without fatigue.

 

Ten years represents the ten-year milestone of Huang Xiangli’s solo performances and her decade-long journey as an artist hosting her personal photography exhibition Black and White. This actress has graced nearly 3,000 stages throughout this span and persistently navigated the realms between stage and visual expression. She has ventured into the unknown in various cities, among crowds, and through written words. In theaters, through imagery, in the interplay of black and white with color, and within the enduring moments and fleeting pauses, she has, albeit clumsily, continued burgeoning.

 

On the occasion of our tenth-anniversary commemorative tour, where we visited ten different cities, we launched a new creative project titled “When I Face It Alone” and sought the participation of one hundred women in contemporary China to create art, using Polaroid as the medium. We have invited women from different regions, backgrounds, and lifestyles to participate in this project. It utilizes out of print large-format Polaroid films to capture variations in time, temperature, humidity, and chemical reactions on this unique medium through the shutter. Consequently, it presents various images that align with their diverse life experiences. Additionally, with its unique silver gelatin negatives, the Polaroid features a letter written by the subject, adding a spiritual dimension that overlays the stories of the one hundred women onto the visual works.

 

This time, under Clumsily Burgeoning, we present Huang Xiangli’s personal photography exhibition. We hope to capture and outline the creative journey of actress and artist Huang Xiangli over the past decade. This exhibition showcases 100 large-format Polaroid portraits from When I Face It Alone alongside Huang Xiangli’s self-developed photographs fromthe Black and White series. Additionally, you will see the moving images captured in nearly 1,000 stage performances.

 

While art cannot heal, it has the power to poeticize pain. The photos may present an unalterable past, but we can be a part of the future. We believe the creation process can transform ordinary life into something extraordinary, and we aim to maintain this innocent belief in our clumsily burgeoning.

An actress and young artist.

 

In 2008, she joined Meng Jinghui's theatre studio. With 15 years of stage experience and 10 years of creative experience, she has created many impressive roles and is known as the "Queen of Monodrama" on the stage. Performing on stage for around 300 days every year, she keeps creating miracles in the domestic theatre industry.

 

Her acting is varied, forthright, sincere, bold and adventurous, making her the most attractive spot on the stage. Her performance works include Rhinoceros in Love, The Love for Three Oranges, Metamorphosis of Butterfly, The Flower in the Mirror & the Moon on the Water, Letter from an Unknown Woman, Bonjour Tristesse, Nine and Half Love, Fox Angel, The Ballad of The Sad Café, The Seventh Day, etc. She has been invited to perform on various stages and theatre festivals in France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, the United States and so on. In addition to her success on the theatre stage, she played a leading role in film director Lou Ye’s new work Saturday Fiction.

 

In recent years, Huang Xiangli has not only performed in stage plays, but also devoted herself to developing in various fields such as film, dance, composition, singing, photography, fashion, etc.