Xiang Li in Artists Magazine: “The Empress of Silk”

Some moments take many years to arrive.

When my mother, Xiang Li, and I held the September/October 2026 issue of Artists Magazine in our hands, I felt the weight of far more than four printed pages.

Inside is “The Empress of Silk,” written by Doreen Manning for the magazine’s Prime / Off the Canvas section. The feature tells the story of my mother’s life, her devotion to watercolor painting on silk, and the creative journey we are continuing together.

This feature carries special meaning for us as a mother-daughter team because we have been readers of Artists Magazine for many years. When I first came to the United States as a high school student in 2000, I began reading the magazine. Later, while attending college in Boston, I regularly visited Barnes & Noble and our college libraries to find the latest issues. I would share what I was learning with my mother, Xiang Li, long before she began creating the Chinese Empresses collection.

Mom and I have always been book lovers. Even when an ocean separated us, discovering art and exchanging inspiration remained an important part of our shared conversation. To see her story in the pages of a magazine that once connected us across that distance feels deeply personal—and truly full circle.

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For more than five decades, my mother has painted with extraordinary patience and care. She spent 37 years as a Master Artist at the Palace Museum in Beijing, known to many as the Forbidden City, where she restored and reproduced ancient Chinese paintings.

That work demanded discipline, humility, and a deep respect for history. It also gave her a foundation from which to develop an artistic voice uniquely her own.

The article follows her journey from the early encouragement she received as a young girl to her years preserving cultural treasures at the Palace Museum. It introduces readers to her Chinese Empresses series, begun in 2012 and encompassing portraits of 200 women from across Chinese history. It also shares the newest chapter of her story: coming to Massachusetts in 2019 and bringing this work to new museums, galleries, and communities.

Painting on silk is an unforgiving and beautiful process. My mother uses transparency, paints from both sides of the fabric, and builds each image through five or six delicate layers. Some paintings require many months to complete. Every layer carries history, emotion, and the possibility of transformation.

What I treasure most about Doreen’s story is how it holds many timelines at once: ancient tradition and contemporary expression, preservation and reinvention, my mother’s lifetime of discipline and our shared work of bringing her paintings to new audiences.

The article also includes words my mother says I remind her of often:

“Art is love. Art is service. Art connects people through generosity.”

That belief has guided Xiang Li Art from the beginning.

We see art as more than a finished object. Art can carry history forward. It can honor the strength, wisdom, and resilience of women. It can create conversations between East and West, tradition and innovation, and one generation and the next.

As mother and daughter, we represent different experiences and perspectives. Yet through this work, we continue learning from one another. My mother brings a lifetime of knowledge and artistic discipline. I help her work travel into new spaces, formats, and conversations. Together, we are discovering what it means to preserve the past while creating something for the future.

Seeing this journey recognized in Artists Magazine is deeply meaningful to both of us.

Our heartfelt thanks to writer Doreen Manning for listening so carefully and telling my mother’s story with such warmth. Thank you to the editors and creative team at Artists Magazine for giving her paintings room to shine. And thank you to every curator, collector, friend, and visitor who has spent time with her work, shared it with others, or helped us imagine what might come next.

You can find “The Empress of Silk” in the September/October 2026 issue of Artists Magazine, in the Prime / Off the Canvas section on pages 8–11.

We hope you will find a copy, spend a little time with the story, and continue this journey with us.

With love and gratitude,
Xiang Li & Fei Wu

Opportunities for Fellow Artists

For artists who are looking for ways to share their work more widely, Artists Network is also a valuable learning and professional resource. In addition to publishing Artists Magazine, it offers instructional articles, videos, workshops, and juried competitions that can bring artists recognition, publication, prizes, and new audiences.

A few current opportunities include:

• Splash: The Best of Watercolor Art Competition — Open to watercolor artists, with an early-entry deadline of August 11 and a final deadline of December 11, 2026.
• 28th Annual Pastel 100 Art Competition — Celebrating artists working primarily in soft pastel. The final deadline is August 26, 2026.
• 20th Annual Over 60 Art Competition — Created especially for artists age 60 and older. The early-entry deadline is August 28, with a final deadline of October 30, 2026.

We know how meaningful the right opportunity can be at any stage of an artist’s journey. We encourage fellow artists to explore the complete Artists Network competition listings, review the eligibility requirements carefully, and consider sharing the work that matters most to you.

Competition information and deadlines can change. Please confirm the latest rules and dates directly with Artists Network before submitting.