In the 1990s, Li Huasheng took multiple trips to Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayas, and found inspiration in lines of chanting monks that he saw there. Like this chanting, the construction of Li’s grid paintings involved a deeply meditative process: each line required patience and a clear mind, repeated until the whole painting was filled. These grids represent a record of Li’s life; his experience of painting each grid—sometimes a months-long process—is embodied in his lines.

© Li Huasheng Art Foundation, photo: Maurice Aeschimann, Geneva