Ruowen Li
Ebb and Flow
Class of: 2026
Major: Communication Design BFA
Medium: Ultralight Clay, Wool Felt
Faculty: Sara Jimenez
Prompt: Twenty-four letters are used to illustrate twenty-four obsessions about yourself, from which you ultimately choose a theme to express yourself in any medium.
I made a symbolic sculpture of a woman attempting to blend in, symbolizing my attempt to blend in but feeling suffocated in the process. She represents our true inner self, which is always repressed, veiled, and withheld from us. Her emergence is a symbol of the yearning for freedom, an endeavor to break free from the shackles and self-sufficiency of the past. But her appearance also represents a kind of suffocation, because trying to fit in requires far too many compromises and adaptations, as well as far too many tears. At this moment, we are all alone.