Artist Li Gang on masks, materials and Maison Margiela
At Maison Margiela’s recent show in Shanghai, Glenn Martens and his team presented a collection of surreal, spectacular looks that toed the line between art and fashion. One dress, made of broken porcelain pieces, resembled sculpture, while another was actually fashioned from a 19-century painting. Several tailored looks were also Bianchetto-ed—that is, painted over in white, a signature Maison Margiela technique.
Another Margiela signature is the mask: models at the fashion brand’s Fall/Winter 2026 show all donned masks that are artistic as their upcycled ensembles. One of those masks is, in fact, an artwork, created by the Beijing-based artist Li Gang. The mask, titled “Again”, was worn by a model in a gown that was draped with various vintage shawls and gilded in gold foil. Li’s handcrafted mask has a similarly regal look about it: it features various gleaming jade rings.
Li’s reaction upon seeing his artwork on the runway? “I felt great,” says the 40-year-old artist, who presented his first solo exhibition in 2011. “When it was being worn, I felt like it was breathing.”
Li is one of the four Chinese creatives who were invited by Maison Margiela to interpret the concept of anonymity. Li’s creation, along with the works of artists Ma Qiusha and Lu Yu, as well as fashion designer Yueqi Qi, will be showcased at the brand’s exhibition of masks in Beijing this month. The exhibition will also spotlight the masks worn in Maison Margiela’s past runway shows.
At Maison Margiela, masks were introduced by founder Martin Margiela in his debut collection in 1988. Like many of the Belgian fashion designer’s aesthetic choices, such as using a blank label with four white stitches instead of a logo, the use of masks was a way to emphasise anonymity. By concealing the faces of the models at a Maison Margiela show, one could simply focus on the clothes.
“I have always believed that a work must withstand the test of anonymity,” explains Li. “It must exist independently of its creator; only then can the work truly become itself.”
“Maison Margiela’s clothing happens to remove the model’s personal attributes through the use of masks, shifting the focus onto the garments themselves,” he continues. “This philosophy aligns perfectly with my own.”
There is another way that Li and the house of Maison Margiela intersect: both make use of unconventional materials and found objects to create something beautiful and evocative.
Take Li’s recent residency at the Aranya Art Center in China, for example. Li created the installation, Apollo, using soil from his hometown of Dali, a historic town in China’s mountainous Yunnan province. Li applied the soil like paint onto a row of glass windows; when light passes through them, it makes “the energy stored by the sun in the soil visible, inspiring everyone to think about their connection with the land,” says Li.
Much like Martin Margiela and his successors John Galliano and Glenn Martens, Li is guided by materiality. Be it through painting, sculpture or photography, his art emphasises the relationship between objects and people, a concept that he calls “Matter Awaken”.
Ahead, Li tells us more about his artistic practice, the inspiration of his jade mask, as well his connection with Maison Margiela.
What inspired your Maison Margiela mask, Again?
Li Gang (LG): I wanted to centre the mask on the concept of “Classical Rebirth,” fusing the Eastern mysticism of the jade ring (Yuhuan) with copper wire weaving. Using the jade ring to anchor Eastern culture as the core, and copper wire to break through traditional mask formats, I aimed to integrate the Eastern spirit into a contemporary form. By using a youthful, avant-garde visual language to revitalise traditional materials, I hope to convey the idea that tradition does not die; classics are reborn.
Your artwork Again seems similar to your 2024 artwork, The Emergence of Essence. What inspired that artwork?
LG: The Emergence of Essence utilises jade, copper, and steel. It weaves copper wire and jade bangles into a “leaky pouch” form, challenging the closed nature of traditional vessels. This “leaky pouch” breaks conventions with chaotic gaps, filtering out a new order from chaos. It discards rigid thinking through active selection in the flow, guarding core values by shedding the redundant.
For both artworks, Again and The Emergence of Essence, you combine jade, a precious stone, with copper, a more common material. Why did you choose these materials?
LG: I believe the most precious aspect of jade lies in its fragility during both production and daily wear. This fragility imposes an intangible constraint—a restraint against rash behaviour—on both the maker and the wearer. The addition of metal copper wire serves to enhance this binding force.
In adapting the pouch into a mask, how does the intention of the artwork change?
LG: Simply put, they are two flowers of different scents blooming from the same conceptual soil. The Emergence of Essence points to the purity that emerges after removing inner redundancy. Again highlights Eastern mysticism by concealing identity behind a mask.
You use many unexpected materials, from everyday objects to discarded materials, to create your art. Why do you like to work with such materials?
LG: Everyday objects change their own materiality after being used by people. You could say that human use activates the material spirit of these objects. This is why, when we face an ancient piece of clothing, we might feel a sense of familiarity or strangeness, and sometimes even fear. The materials appearing in my works are the unique entities for that manifestation. It’s not that I deliberately pick materials; rather, it must be that specific material to open the door.
In 2010, you showcased Down Coat, an installation of three plastic coats filled with garbage. Can you tell me more about that artwork?
LG: Thank you for recalling this work; it was a work I created 16 years ago. At the time, I was thinking: if you want to understand a place quickly, relying solely on visual observation is not enough. So, I went to three different locations and collected a day’s worth of trash from each. Unexpectedly, the trash produced by these three places was completely different from the information I perceived on the surface. Finally, I sewed three different down jackets for myself using the trash from these locations. Through this action, I realised that the appearance seen by the eyes is far from the truth of the facts.
Do you see a connection between how you create your art with such materials and how Maison Margiela upcycles old garments and fabric waste to create haute couture?
LG: In Again, the fragility of jade symbolises a certain decisiveness in the East, which is part of jade’s noble quality. I think that this decisiveness of jade resonates well with Maison Margiela’s deconstructive approach; both point towards transcendence.
Your mask is showcased at Maison Margiela’s Anonymity exhibition. How do you feel about your art being exposed to a new audience that is more familiar with fashion?
LG: Art makes the world more beautiful.
How does the creative process usually begin for you? Does it start with the materials? Or does it start with an idea or concept? Or maybe an emotion?
LG: Yes, I care deeply about human life and emotion. Broadly speaking, our living conditions, our spiritual state, our sense of belonging… All of these affect us as tiny individuals, and we cannot escape them. So, as an artist, I wonder if I can create art that relates to the life emotions of contemporary people.
You also work across various disciplines, including sculpture, painting and photography. What does sculpture allow you to express, more so than other mediums?
LG: Actually, it’s all the same to me. The disciplines you mentioned, in my understanding, are all “containers” to preserve the emotions of contemporary people, or perhaps a “refrigerator” to keep emotions fresh. Different art disciplines are just different methods of preservation.
You’re based in Beijing. Does the city influence your art in any way?
LG: Beijing is very inclusive and suitable for creation. However, regarding today’s contemporary art ecosystem, the global economic landscape has made contemporary art fragile and boring. Serious exhibitions are becoming fewer; research-oriented artists are gradually isolated by the market, and artistic trends are being replaced by auction data. Beijing is no exception to this. Of course, from another perspective, isn’t this precisely the best era to produce classic works?
You’ve been practising art for over a decade now. How would you say you have evolved as an artist?
LG: Sometimes I regret being an artist. As an artist, you must truly experience the pressure and pain points the era gives you. You must learn to transform and become sensitive; only then do you deserve the word “inspiration”. The most crucial point is that you also have to adapt to the fact that in this era, the artist has gradually slid from an “ideal identity” to a “market profession”.
This article was written by Pameyla Cambe and first published on Lifestyle Asia Singapore on April 14 2026.