Why is it that Cai Lei's works evoke such profound emotions in us? Perhaps this austere formalism takes us back to some place in our childhood... Or is it the silence of the cement, or perhaps the evaporation of color? There is no single answer. What is evident, however, is that, as with almost all contemporary Chinese artists, precision, poetry, and the tension between reality and perception also feed Cai Lei's work.

In this case, we see meticulously constructed worlds that reinvent the boundaries between architecture and sculpture. Each of the artistic objects we observe possesses such poetic intensity that it moves us to the point where we believe we are inside these minimal spaces. This is probably because they were conceived with systematic rigor and precision: one small piece upon another, transforming an empty space into a kind of realm where the senses resonate.

Unfinished Home 20250712, by Chi Lei (2025)

Material: cement / Dimensions: 60 x 49.5 x 4.5 cm