Portia Yuran Li, a London-based Chinese artist, Known for her expertise in performance art and art healing sessions since earning her MFA degree at Goldsmiths. She intertwines research archives, mythology, fictional narratives, and live performances to explore the complex tensions arising from the power dynamics, geopolitics, and identity conflicts behind human activity. Through exploring generational trauma within East Asian families and the struggles of East Asian immigrants, she employs performance art and body workshops as methods of healing, subtly revealing human struggles and desires, and blurring the boundaries between reality and imagination.
She is also founder and director of London based Roarrr Theatre.
YURAN LI · PORTIA
b.1995 Shijiazhuang. Base in London
2017 - 2019 MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths University of London, London.
SOLO EXHIBITION
2023 October Why Tender Shell？ V.O Studios Tower Hill，London
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024
June
The Garden of Delights on Earth, Gallery 46, London
March
Just As the River Must Run, the Fire Must Burn， Filet Space， London
A Daughter and Feral Mother, AMP Gallery, London
2023
July
Whispered Canvases， Silian Gallery， London
3rd Annual Peace Love Art， A+C Foundation，Online
May
OXYTOCIN Collective Care 2023， Science Gallery， London
February
Quote， Unquote， Ugly Duck, London
2022
November
Choreo Archive, Dinner Party Gallery, London
August
This Is Essential Work, curated by Michal Nahman and Susan Newman, Online
A room of one's own， Safehouse 1， London
May
Sex Re-boot， IKLECTIK， London
2021
June
BlueCables Residency Show, Power Station of Art, Shanghai
January
A Dialogue In Winter, Biennial Art 2020, Yanjiao
2020
December
Cyberfeminism, No Space Gallery, Online
June
Body Soul and Time, No Space Gallery, Online
2019
October
Parallax Art Fair, Parallax Art Fair London, London
The Surreality of Fear， BSB Gallery， Trenton
Arche of Realm, No Space Gallery, Online
August
Exquisite Body，Home 「form」room artist studio，London
July
Goldsmiths MFA Degree Show， Goldsmiths University of London， London
May
Say Aaaaaahhhhhh, The Old Operating Theatre, London
2018
October
The Living Room, Space Honey* Bad Art, London
September
Gold X, Deptford X Exhibition, London
July
Goldsmiths Interm show, Goldsmiths，London
March
One-Day Store Exhibition, Deptford Market, London
ART THERAPY AND THEATRE
2023
January
Directed Theatre show "Here Comes Gu Dong". Blackheath Halls, London
2019
November
Hold Workshop “Sculpting Society With the Body”， Wanying Art Museum，Shijiazhuang
October
Hold workshop “Body Whispers: a workshop in Contact Improvisation”, collaborate with Transparent Domin, Saw Swee Hock
Centre, London
2025
The Motherhood Museum 20th Anniversary Conference： Drama Therapy - the role of play within Moms，University of South
Florida, Virtual (16th, March)
2018
Widening the Gaze： A conference exploring the role of race in creative practice，Slade Research Center，London （21st，
March）
AWARDS
2025
March Keep it Fringe Award, Edinburgh , UK
2019
March Goldsmiths Alumni and Friends Fund，Goldsmiths，London
2019
November BLANC art show, the Oculus World Trade Centre, New York
PRESS
BOOK
Widening the Gaze， Slade School of Fine Art，2018
MAGAZINE
The Art Columnist, 3rd Edition
Wotisart issue#29，2019
FAKfulness Magazine issue#2，2019
Artqol Magazine August issue
ONLINE
Artisle Talk | Portia x Performance : Physical Theater + Fiction, Artisle, by Wang king
Goldsmiths Degree Show Press, The Room LDN, by QY
Portia Lee, Artist from Beijing, Interview by Hideaki Hara
+44 (0)7403510726