Examining the relationship between the familiar and the nebulous, Li Songsong’s monumental diptych, Wish for Longevity, is a strong precedent for his signature, high-relief style. Muted with color, Wish for Longevity knits together a collage of thick impasto strokes, depicting a hazy mirage of individuals directing their gazes to a central figure. The man, who seems to be conducting a toast for the celebratory gathering, is positioned directly to the audience. However, under Li’s paintbrush, figures are rendered anonymous. Their faces, replaced by transient, gestural marks, suspend them beyond past, present, and future.

Li’s confident brushwork contrastingly explores the fragility of truthful representation. Frequently drawing inspiration from found images, Li’s paintings are rife with historical associations. Yet, the artist leans into the deceptiveness of objective photographs and subjective memory through painting. Each figure is constructed by interwoven grids, adding to the dynamic yet fragmented reconstruction of this event. In the process of intersection, the grids bifurcate the figures and setting, creating little vignettes that simulate multiple paintings within Wish for Longevity. His luscious brushstrokes are a decisive and personal mark that displaces the associations and subjectivities of his found image, generating a purely aesthetic experience.

Bringing the practice of painting to the forefront, the content is rendered secondary as he seduces the viewers with his masterful strokes, conjuring traces and hints of a familiar memory. Destroying any remnants of the found images and their context, Li re-generates the image through an amalgamation of interwoven frames and delicate brushstrokes, a product of his aesthetic examination of painting as a medium. Instead of painting on the canvas, Li chooses to paint on color, generating haptic sensations from the high-relief layering of pigment. Fluctuating between objective and subjective representation, Li masterfully challenges the viewers to confront their own perceptions whilst simultaneously creating a sensitive and indulgent study of his own artistic process.

李松松的經典雙聯畫作品《人長久》審視日常與混沌之間的關係，是他的經典浮雕風格的優秀先例。《人長久》畫面呈黑白色，由一片厚塗筆觸交疊而成，畫中人身影模糊，彷彿正注視著畫面中心的一個人物。畫面中央的男士面向觀眾，看似在一個喜慶場合中發表祝酒辭。李氏筆下的人物並無身份，他們的樣貌被多變而動態的筆觸抹去，令畫中人定格在一個超越過去、現在及未來的空間之中。

李松松以充滿自信的筆觸，運用對比手法揭示具象圖案的脆弱本質。李氏經常在既有的圖像中尋找靈感，他的作品充滿歷史喻旨。不過，比起討論歷史，藝術家更傾向以繪畫揭示客觀照片及主觀記憶的虛偽。畫中的人物由相連的網格構建而成，令宴會構圖更具動感，同時顯得支離破碎。在圖像互疊的過程中，網格分開了人物和背景，猶如將畫幅拆成多幅小插圖。畫中濃烈豐厚的筆觸，模糊了既有圖像的指涉和主觀意識，為觀者帶來純粹的美學體驗，是藝術家充滿個人色彩的鮮明標記。

藝術家將觀者的注意力引導至畫面的精湛筆觸上，圖像的內容變得次要，反而令人回想起熟悉的回憶。藉著抹除既有圖像的線索與背景，並糅合相連的網格與細膩筆觸，李松松賦予圖像全新面貌，以美學角度審視繪畫這個媒材。李氏不在畫布上繪畫，而是選擇在顏料上繪畫，以顏料的層層堆疊營造出浮雕般的畫面質感。李氏的藝術在客觀與主觀表現之間擺盪，以精妙的作畫手法鼓勵觀眾挑戰自己的感官觸覺，同時仔細探究藝術家的創作過程。