On Saturday, January 13th, downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) will proudly unveil its first solo exhibition from Chinese artist Li Shanmei, titled Lucid Dreaming, in Gallery 3.

Shanmei is known for her oil paintings depicting otherworldly children whose spirits and physical form are one with nature and life. The artist’s painting technique is realistic yet illustrative, with an aesthetic embrace of computerized graphics.

Her use of bold colors, geometry, and mandalas are nods to systems of mathematics yet also embody tools of spiritual guidance and ascension. Shanmei’s painted children represent new-age deities that adapt to the innovations of technology while also maintaining homeostasis with their natural world.

Regarding her upcoming show, Shanmei shares, “The impermanence of life often involuntarily immerses me in thoughts of the past and the future, replacing the present moment. I try to stop my thoughts and search for every deity that emerges within me. She often goes through the process of inner cultivation for me. She never thought she was a separate individual from other creatures.

She can combine past, present, and future things, and can also connect with certain scenes, memories, and concepts to feel them and be with them. She is not bound by the laws of the universe, thus seeing a new purpose from this world and generating its meaning of existence.” Introducing all new works, Lucid Dreaming will feature pieces from Shanmei’s ongoing “Mandala” and “Rebirth” series.