Check Out Gabrielle Li’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabrielle Li.

Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
As a young Chinese-American creative, I was raised by a single mother and spent most of my youth at the dinner tables of my friends’ families, lounging in detached & uninsulated garages and on top of cars parked in 24/7 lots. Disconnected from my cultural roots and a minority in my suburban city, I was immersed and embraced by the predominantly Latin, Brazilian, and Haitian families that left the doors open to their hearts. These friends, adopted from the native craving to be seen and heard, have shaped how I navigate my world.

Yesterday morning, I woke up next to my 10-year-old dog. He’s a Gemini, so his mood is guaranteed to be a question mark. I don’t like complacency, so it adds. I then met a new fellow creative at my neighborhood’s coffee shop. A thirty-minute meeting turned into a five-hour enmeshment across Durham’s not-so-separate worlds and our own respective mediums. It was a time stamp of our shared values of community outreach, dynamic perspectives, and sustainable growth. Art. Music. Business. And Life. I’m glad we had coffee. We’re now best friends.

With time well-vacuumed, I pivoted to a second meeting at a local arts collective to discuss course expansion within their glass program. We riffed. We got to be nerds. I stood on concrete surrounded by some of my fondest tools and elements: fire, glass, water, wood, and metal. By Fall, I can use my technical skills to reach the community as an educator again.  I went home, worked, and laid on the floor. The day wound down with a relaxed heart.

I have always been an artist. I went to art school for glass. Upon graduation, I learned that my Chinese grandfather was a published glass scientist and held exclusive rights to glass technology, but only after his death. One year later, I received vintage acupuncture posters from my grandmother, also deceased, with a handwritten note addressed to me. Are mainstream and familial timelines relevant? They affect me, but they don’t define me. We are much more than our accomplishments, traumas, and vessels. Pain and beauty are taken in the same breath, shared and witnessed by the earth and, hopefully.. our loved ones. And in the present, it is a privilege to show up the best you can be that day and share some happiness.. or maybe some tears.

Has it been a smooth road? If not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced?
A rewind: In the past six months, I have been in health, —high contrast from a severe, seven-year illness I experienced lasting from 2015 to 2022. I returned to school for three semesters of pre-medical co-requisites in 2022 for a Master’s in Acupuncture program, divorced, had surgery, and moved. Sometimes, I look at my surroundings and question: where the f*qq am I? No, it’s not anywhere bad; it’s just new graphics, new energy, and new people. But then how did I arrive? I’m adaptable, —a chameleon AF, but I am no teleporter. Something inside of me allowed me to survive death multiple times and the shocking trajectories of my life path. It’s true, I’m relentless. But I try not to let that get in the way of my growth, even if it got me here. For me, it was easy to die. It is not easy to live. And I like a challenge.

I appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I now identify and operate professionally as an artist, designer, marketer, and multidimensional thinker. I’m self-sufficient, but I thrive in collaborative environments. I combine traditional and digital mediums because I have an affinity for ancient arts and technology. I like to bring visionary framing applications and creative direction to my surroundings, whether in my personal art & design projects or for my clients. I have a design partner that calls me “The Alchemiss” and “The Framer”. You can view my website at www.GSaltaL.com, yet my work continually evolves with me faster than advertised. I like to distill, emote, and offer what others may not see. I solve problems and serve my communities to the best of my ability. This could look like eye contact, holding space, sharing, or directing the entire re-birth and branding identity of a company I believe in.

What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Yes, I had to learn to survive in an emotionally inept environment. I have been working since I was 11 years old. And I spent seven years of my thirty-three-year-old life in limbo, unwillingly stripped of my identity and abilities. I survived. That’s the story. But life is always both. I like interesting. I like different. I fuck with both. There was worth laced in that suffering. Today, I can connect with almost any individual. Dance on the street with headphones. Feel beautiful, powerful, and broken simultaneously. I see that life and people will always surprise me. I find more ease in my existence because I truly lack fear. It was tested out of me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.GSaltaL.com
• Instagram: @Neptune.Nia
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielle-li-868949252

Image Credits
Stan Sanon