Ruoyi Shi (CV)

Ruoyi Shi is an interdisciplinary artist working with objects, writings, performances, and video installations. Inspired by folklore, oral history, mythology, and personal memory, she combines humor and fiction to construct her own poetic narratives. Through her practice, Ruoyi plays a world-building game with the figures and creatures she invents. She also invites audiences to participate in her alternative reality.

Ruoyi received her BFA degree in Sculpture from the Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) in China. She recently completed her MFA in Art at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

Artist Statement

I consider my works as fragments I collected for creating an alternative reality. I invent figures, tools, myths, and memories. Using sculptures, writings, performances, and videos, I aim to experiment with the boundaries between nature and artificial existences, truth and truth-making. For me, this is a never-ending game that mirrors the past, the present, and the future. I might appear to be an archeologist, a scientist, or a psychic reader, wandering around as a game avatar, and everyone can project themselves on these characters.

My practices are always rooted in my culture and traditions. I study oral history, translations, folklores, and mythology to construct my narratives. In my recent work, (https://www.letterfromfish.com/) inspired by the first peasant revolt in China, I place the "talking fish" that appeared in the history in a contemporary context to discuss propaganda, fabricated facts, and how information is carried, manipulated, interpreted, and transformed. I set up interactive site-specific installations, traveled in the city, and documented the journeys. Throughout the process, the map of this alternative reality has been expanded.