Miao Li (b. 1996, China) explores the entanglement of fibre materials, landscapes, and ritual heritage through embodied, material-led processes. Working with the crafts of basketry, textiles, and rope making, he approaches making as an intuitive form of research shaped by hands, time, and place. Materials are not treated as passive or objectified matter, but as active agents that speak through texture, structure, and narrative. Rooted in Eastern epistemologies, his installations function as animate assemblages—woven beings, material archives, and sacred groves—that invite care, curiosity, and concentration. By engaging non-human agency and embodied ecological knowledge, Miao challenges anthropocentric notions of authorship, intelligence and growth, seeking to awaken our dormant ecological unconscious.
- 2026-2025 Residential Training, Zen River Temple (NL)
- 2023-2019 BA Product Design, Cum Laude, ArtEZ University of the Arts (NL)
- 2018-2014 BEng Industrial Design, China University of Mining and Technology (CN)
Residency
- 2024 ZEN AIR - Artist in Residence EIHEIJI (JP)
- 2022 Design & Build Plant Based Woven Architecture, Passa ao Futuro (PT)
Grant / Award
- 2025 Talent Development Grant, Creative Industries Fund NL (NL)
- 2024 Design Grant, Creative Industries Fund NL (NL)
- 2024 Project Subsidies for the Professional Arts, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst (NL)
- 2024 Grant Stroomversneller, Cultuur Academy (NL)
- 2021 First Prize of Design Contest Cor Unum (NL)
Exhibition / Event
- 2026 Exhibition, As Within, So Without, Van Eesteren Museum (NL)
- 2025 Solo Exhibition Root Emotions, Van Eesteren Museum (NL)
- 2025 Tea Clay Vase showing in tea ceremony, gallery CHAxART, KVVAK, Rijksmuseum (NL)
- 2025 Exhibition Beinglonging: New Trajectories in the Third Context, gallery CHAxART, Design Biennale Rotterdam (NL)
- 2024 Exhibition ZEN AIR EIHEIJI (JP)
- 2023 Exhibition ArtEZ Finals (NL)
- 2022 Exhibition Crafting Imperfections of Tea Clay, Dutch Design Week (NL)
- 2022 Exhibition Chacycle, gallery CHAxART (NL)
- 2021 Exhibition Eat Together, gallery CHAxART (NL)
Working
- 2024-2023 Junior Designer, Jongeriuslab (NL)
- 2022 Internship, Jos Klarenbeek (NL)
- 2021 Internship, Fillip Studios (NL)
- 2019 Internship, Benwu Studio (CN)
Teaching
- 2026 Workshop Introduction to Basket Weaving, UNStudio (NL)
- 2025 Labweek Making Meditation, Materials in Artistic Practices, Frank Mohr Institute (NL)
- 2024 Workshop Introduction to Basket Weaving, Kamishini Elementary School (JP)
- 2024 Workshop Artifical Botany, Graphic Design, ArtEZ University of the Arts (NL)
- 2023 Workshop Material Inquiry, Product Design, ArtEZ University of the Arts (NL)