This exhibition, ‘Set Your Foot on the Land’, explores the act of setting foot on new ground and leaving behind footprints. Just as someone long ago set foot on a promised land and opened a path, so too in Ningbo today people’s steps continue to create new ways forward in the city.

I began this work by observing the city of Ningbo and the people moving through it. In the evenings, I was struck by the brilliant lights spilling from the buildings, flooding the streets and bathing the entire city in color. Neon signs, reflections in glass windows, and glowing billboards revealed the rhythm of Ningbo. Amid those lights, I saw hurried steps on the way home, vendors closing their stalls, and the lingering footsteps beneath the glow of late-night shopfronts. The scene unfolded before me like a film, leaving me with a distinctly artistic impression. Those walking through the lights seemed to carry the city’s colors into their own lives, and I expressed that impression through the vivid hues of my figures.

I have long been interested in the ways people live and in the emotions and stories embedded in their lives. Especially in modern society, where countless anonymous individuals intersect and pass by one another, the hidden fragments of life have become the foundation of my work. People sometimes move like a single current, yet each carries a different grain of life, with stories that remain unseen. I want to record these invisible presences and paths through visual language.

The strong,diverse colors in my work symbolize the emotions, rhythms, and unique layers of each individual. I render people as dots, whose repetition and density reveal the flow of crowds and the pulse of the collective. Seen up close, the surface of the canvas rises in sharp relief, suggesting marks that reveal themselves only at close range. The uneven texture resembles the reality of life itself, reminding us that everyone carries their own hidden scars.

‘Set Your Foot on the Land’ brings together my artistic language and the city of Ningbo. People’s steps are the footprints impressed upon the city, signs of life that continue to shape it. This exhibition has given me the chance to see anew the ways people in Ningbo set their feet upon the land. I hope my work will leave viewers with a quiet resonance and lingering impression, inspiring them to reflect on their own lives and to find connection with those around them.

本展览“踏足”关注人们踏足新土地并留下足迹的行为。正如古人踏足应许之地开辟道路，如今，人们在宁波的脚步仍在城市中不断创造新的前行方式。

我的创作始于观察，观察宁波这座城市以及其中流动的人群。夜晚时分，五光十色的灯光从建筑中倾泻而出，漫溢街道、浸染全城，令我震撼。霓虹招牌、玻璃窗上的倒影与发光广告牌共同勾勒出宁波的韵律。在那些光影中，我看见了归家路上的匆忙步履、收摊商贩的身影，以及深夜店铺灯光下徘徊的足迹。这些画面如电影般在我眼前展开，留下鲜明的艺术印象。穿行于光影中的人们仿佛将城市的色彩带入他们的生活，而我则通过笔下人物的鲜艳色调来表达这一感受。

我始终关注人们的生存方式以及生活中蕴藏的情感与故事。尤其在现代社会，无数匿名的人类个体不期而遇、又擦肩而过，这之间的生活碎片构成了我的创作基础。人们有时如溪流般向某个方向一起移动，却各自承载着不同质地的人生、各自带着隐秘的故事。我试图通过视觉语言来记录这些无形的存在与道路。

我的作品中浓烈、多元的色彩象征着每个人的情感、节奏与特性。我将人物化为圆点，密集重复的圆点揭示了人群的流动与集体的脉动。近观画面时，锐利的起伏代表了唯有近距离才能显现的痕迹。凹凸不平的质地恰似生活本身的真实形态，告诉我们每个人都有着不为人知的伤痕。

“踏足”将宁波的城市景观转化为一场关于人类足迹与集体记忆的视觉叙事。人们的脚步是留在城市里的印记，也是持续构建城市的生命标记。通过这场展览，我观察了宁波人在这片土地上的脚步。我希望，这些作品能让观众静静地回味，思考自己的生活，并与周围人找到连结之处。

Introduction

Born in Seoul in 1999, Lee Hogyeong is a contemporary artist based in Jeju and Seoul, South Korea. She studied Fine Arts and Visual Design at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, a background that has shaped her multidisciplinary approach combining painting, installation, and visual language.
Her artwork explores the unseen layers of urban life and the emotions embedded in human presence. Figures are expressed as pointed dots, revealing the scars of existence. At the same time, they visualize how individual lives come together to shape the rhythm and breath of the city.

艺术家简介；

李湖璟，1999年出生于首尔，当代艺术家，现工作生活于韩国济州岛与首尔。她毕业于韩国首尔科技大学美术与视觉设计专业，这一教育背景塑造了她的跨学科创作方式，融合了绘画、装置与视觉语言。

她的作品关注都市生活中不为人知的部分和人类情感。人物形象通过尖锐的圆点勾勒，喻示着伤痕的存在。同时，这些形象又描绘了汇聚在一起的人类个体，他们共同塑造了城市的脉动与呼吸。