Life & Work with Yuchen Li

Today we’d like to introduce you to Yuchen Li.

Hi Yuchen, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hi, I’m Yuchen, but you can also call me Moxi. The name Moxi comes from the Japanese word moshimoshi, which translates to “Is anyone there?” Every time someone calls my name, it feels like a gentle reassurance—a quiet reminder that I am still right here.

I am a multi-disciplinary visual artist, with photography as my primary medium. When I first picked up a camera, like many photography enthusiasts, I simply wanted to document life—to capture those fleeting moments of beauty and the subtle details that made me linger for a second longer. Over time, however, photography became inseparable from who I am. It became my way of observing the world and bringing the ideas in my mind into reality.

After working as a graphic designer in China for several years, I decided to make a pivot and pursued a Master’s degree in Fashion Photography at the University of the Arts London. Since then, I’ve remained in London to continue my artistic practice. I’ve been fortunate enough to connect with wonderful people across the industry, leading to my work being published in several platform, like Dscene Magazine and exhibited internationally in cities like London, Tokyo, and Shanghai.

My work often stems from personal experience, weaving together collective memories to create surreal imagery rooted in the real world. For me, the process of imagining these surreal visual concepts is essential—it gives me the ability to think and feel beyond the bounds of everyday life.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It is certainly not an easy path, but I’ve also come to realize that no path in this world ever is. Once I accepted that reality, I chose this direction with total conviction.

First, from an artistic perspective, I’ve always believed that the core message behind any good work of art is what truly matters. That requires me to reflect on myself on a very deep level. I think this process is painful for anyone, because you have to delve into your subconscious and face yourself. You come across traumas you cannot resolve, and you become aware of issues you simply cannot fix. It often leaves you with a heavy sense of losing control over your life.

Second, as an emerging artist, many resources in the art world are not readily open to you. You have to build your own network, and many awards and exposure opportunities require you to pay out of pocket. At the same time, many artistic commissions don’t pay much. So you are forced to face a hard choice: Are you willing to endure years of relatively low income just to earn the freedom to express your thoughts?

Third, most artists need a part-time job—working as a server or a barista, for instance. When these repetitive, day-to-day tasks exhaust your mental energy, do you still have the time and motivation left in your off-hours to hold onto your dreams? I think this is a dilemma many of us face.

Finally, as an immigrant, another challenge I face is that when I persist in creating works around Asian themes, people in a predominantly white Western society don’t always grasp the subtleties of my visual language. Many can’t read the metaphors embedded in my work, and not being recognized by the mainstream market makes you want to give up, time and time again.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a multi-disciplinary visual artist whose practice spans photography and painting. You can view my work on my personal website: yuchenlimoxi.cargo.site.

I specialize in surreal photography rooted in reality, mostly centered on the space where personal dilemmas intersect with collective memory. Most of my pieces begin from trauma; the creative process is both my way of sitting with my own wounds and the very medicine that heals me.

If I were to speak on what sets me apart from other artists, I believe it is how I construct an image. It is never just a single photo shoot—design plays a significant role throughout. While the final presentation is photographic, the journey involves sketching, handcrafting the artistic props and materials, and continuing to create on top of the physical prints after shooting, before scanning them back into a final photograph. Through every single step of this process, my presence is fully embedded in the work. This is why I define myself as a visual artist.

And because I spend so much dedicated time with each piece throughout its creation—always discovering new details I want to refine every time I look at it—I have absolute confidence that my photographs are meant to endure and hold quiet depth over time.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
Jing Lin, my mum. Without her, I can’t be me today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://yuchenlimoxi.cargo.site
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moxitophotography/