We were lucky to catch up with Xinchen Li recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Xinchen, so excited to have you with us today, particularly to get your insight on a topic that comes up constantly in the community – overcoming creativity blocks. Any thoughts you can share with us?
After I graduated, I faced multiple challenges at the same time, including job uncertainty and visa pressure. In that unstable period, I gradually lost both my creative energy and even the desire to make work. For me, that was a dangerous place to be as an artist. I realized I needed an external structure to help pull me back into making. I started applying to open calls and using deadlines as motivation. At the same time, I began to directly incorporate my personal struggles and experiences into my work, treating storytelling as an internal driving force. By turning what I was going through into material for creation, I was able to move through my creative block and reconnect with my practice.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I am a contemporary jewelry artist and installation sculptor whose work explores memory, material, and the emotional life of objects. My practice moves between wearable pieces and large scale sculptural environments, using materials such as PLA filament and metal. My work is deeply influenced by personal history, migration, and the idea of home, and I use objects as a way to hold and transform these experiences.
Alongside my studio practice, I am also an educator. Teaching is an essential part of my job. I enjoy creating accessible, hands on learning environments where students can explore materials, storytelling, and experimentation without fear of failure. I am especially excited about pushing my current material research further and sharing these processes with new communities through exhibitions and education.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Looking back, the three most impactful things in my journey have been resilience, material curiosity, and the ability to tell a personal story through my work.
First, resilience has been essential. My path has included career uncertainty and moments of deep self doubt. Learning how to keep working through instability, even when conditions were not ideal, shaped both my mindset and my practice. For artists early in their journey, my advice is to accept that uncertainty is part of the process and to focus on building consistency rather than waiting for perfect conditions.
Second, material curiosity has been central to my growth. I allowed myself to experiment across scales, from jewelry to installation, and across both traditional metals and unconventional materials like PLA filament. This openness led me to develop a visual language that feels truly my own. For emerging artists, I would recommend spending real time with materials, making many experiments without pressure for finished results, and letting the process teach you.
Third, learning how to tell a personal story through my work has been transformative. When I began to connect my own experiences of memory and home to what I was making, my work became more focused and emotionally grounded. For artists starting out, I encourage reflecting on what experiences genuinely shape you and letting those stories inform your work in an honest way.
Together, these three qualities continue to guide my practice and have helped me build a sustainable and meaningful career.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
Over the past 12 months, my biggest areas of growth have been in both my artistic practice and my role as an educator. Artistically, presenting my solo show was a major milestone. The show is titled “Unsettled Things”, it pushed me to clarify my vision, work at a larger scale, and take full responsibility for every aspect of a project from concept to installation. It deepened my confidence in my voice and helped me better understand how my work communicates with an audience.
Professionally, I also expanded my teaching in a meaningful way by beginning to work with much younger students. In addition to teaching adults, I now teach elementary and TK K level students art classes, which has challenged me to re-think how I communicate ideas, demonstrate techniques, and adapt projects for different developmental stages. This experience has strengthened my flexibility, patience, and ability to design truly accessible learning experiences.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.xinchenlimetalsmithingsculpture.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/xinchenli_art?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Image Credits
Photographer: Kayla Bauer
Model: Abby Sunde
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