Meet Rashel Li

We were lucky to catch up with Rashel Li recently and have shared our conversation below.

Rashel, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

To keep my creativity alive, I immerse myself in interconnected worlds of ideas, disciplines, and perspectives. I find inspiration in the tension between seemingly disparate fields—like curating, game design, and writing—and in allowing them to inform one another.

For me, creativity thrives when I stay curious and open to non-human narratives, exploring how animals, plants, and even artificial intelligence might critique or reimagine the world. I often draw on philosophy, such as Donna Haraway’s Chthulucene, to challenge human-centric ways of thinking and envision new ways of making kin with the Earth and its inhabitants.

Collaboration is also key. Leading project-based teams across various creative disciplines pushes me to constantly adapt, listen, and grow. Engaging with others—be it through developing video games or curating expansive media arts projects—fuels my imagination.

Finally, I embrace playfulness and experimentation. By staying present with each project’s unique challenges, I find that creativity isn’t something to hold onto but a practice to continually nurture and renew.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I see myself as a creator who bridges the worlds of art, writing, and interactive design. My journey started in art curation and criticism, where I honed two core skills: narrative writing and experiential design. These twin disciplines—rhetoric and storytelling on one hand, sensory and interactive creation on the other—continue to shape my work today.

My early focus on media art criticism expanded to exploring more popular and entertainment-oriented fields, including comics, animation, games, and speculative fiction. I later became an editor, curating content about the intersection of media arts, technology, and cross-disciplinary creativity. Currently, I serve as the overseas editor for an indie game media platform. Recently, I’ve started writing science fiction and joined a sci-fi magazine as an editorial board member.

Gaming, however, has always held a special place in my heart. As a lifelong gamer, discovering indie games as a form of media art felt like a natural extension of my passion. I’ve reviewed games, curated game exhibitions, and even helped publish games. Currently, I’m excited about my recent project, Go Groundshel!, a whimsical yet thought-provoking puzzle game about a groundhog girl on a quest to rescue her male partner—but with a surprising twist. Beneath the surface, the game explores themes of gender roles and the urgency of recognizing personal needs, represented symbolically by the search for a usable toilet.

Another project I’m thrilled to share is a game-themed podcast I co-founded with two female gamedev friends. Together, we dive deep into the world of game design, storytelling, interdisciplinary and feminist perspectives, and the cultural impact of games.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I think three things have had the biggest impact on my journey: holistic perspective, curiosity, and critical thinking. These aren’t just skills I developed—they’ve become part of how I see the world and approach my work.

Holistic thinking helps me connect the dots between different fields and ideas. Whether I’m curating an exhibition, designing a game, or writing a story, I’m always looking for the threads that tie everything together to weave a bigger picture and endorse meanings. Curiosity has always been my compass that pushes me to explore new fields, experiment with unfamiliar mediums, and dive into ideas that might seem unusual at first. It makes me ask, “What if?” and keeps me excited about the unknown. And critical thinking is about questioning the obvious, challenging norms, and imagining alternatives. It’s what helps me go beyond the surface and create work that feels intentional and thought-provoking.

I would suggest anyone just starting out to not box themself in. Explore beyond your current field and think about where you want to go, not just where you are. Follow your curiosity wherever it leads, even if it feels like a detour. And always make time to reflect, to question, and to think deeply about what you’re doing and why. That’s where the magic happens.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

When I feel overwhelmed, it’s usually because I’m carrying too many emotions—whether they’re my own or things I’ve absorbed from the outside world. It could be the weight of someone else’s story, the awe of a technical breakthrough, or the heartbreak of a societal tragedy. In those moments, I give myself permission to pause. I take my hands off work and focus on something that feels meditative.

For me, meditation doesn’t look like sitting still and clearing my mind. Instead, it’s often an active process—writing, drawing, crafting, or even playing games with myself. I like to treat the world as if it’s a puzzle, something to analyze and reimagine. I’ll take the phenomena I’ve encountered and start to think about their mechanics. How might they work? What if the rules were different? Sometimes I’ll even design speculative rules for these hypothetical worlds.

This process helps me untangle what feels inscrutable. It’s a way to turn overwhelming emotions into something creative and generative. And honestly, some of my interesting ideas have come out of such unexpected moments. My advice? When you’re feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and give yourself the space to process those inspiring emotions.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://curaxuan.com/
• Instagram: @curaxuan
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruixuanli/
• Twitter: https://x.com/curaxuan
• Other: “Go Groundshel!” on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3069370/Go_Groundshel/

Image Credits

“Go Groundshel!,” an indie game being developed by Curaxuan.
“Go Groundshel!” on Steam, an indie game being developed by Curaxuan.
MythRhino (2021), Rashel Ruixuan Li.
The Enigmas at Red Point (2020), Rashel Ruixuan Li.
The Foolish Old Man Project (2019), Rashel Ruixuan Li, Mengni Zhang, Zhuoxi Song.
Narcissus Bug, an animation being produced by Curaxuan.
YouXi DimSum (2023), LIKELIKE, curated by Rashel Ruixuan Li and Allison Jing Yang.
Gtopia: Game Site (2022), TANK Shanghai, curated by Xiaoyi Liu, Rashel Ruixuan Li, Zhen Li, produced by Allison Jing Yang.