Throughout the 1990s, Chinese artists were engaged in a relentless pursuit of new techniques and vocabularies to critically re-define the representation of their own existence. Li Shan was one of the most prominent artists in Shanghai during this period. His Reading series is an exploration into the world of imagination and a questioning of human existence.

Reading Series - Dragonfly presents the viewers with a realistic representation of an insect that upon close examination, reveals itself to be composed of human body parts. This initial poetic sensibility in the work quickly spins into a sense of unease and estrangement. Through the synthesis, these interspecies insects ultimately comment on the advancements in genetic biology and represent Li Shan’s fascination for the possible future.