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Eric Li

Eric Li headshot

About

Hi there! I’m from Old Greenwich, CT, and I’m currently a Computer Science major with a certificate in Visual Arts and some dabbling in Architecture. I’m primarily a graphic designer and am interested in the “interface,” broadly speaking. Previously, I’ve explored creating pieces about time, liminal spaces (trains), and clouds. These pieces span the form of digital art, printed matter, sculpture, photography, writing, and interactive installation.

I have spent time working at Google’s Material Design Team in New York, at LUST in Den Haag, and at IDEO in Palo Alto. There, and here, much of my work has straddled some weird intersection of programming and graphic design.

In my practice, I often begin with a topic that I don’t quite understand. I then create visual output using whatever means possible in order to better understand the topic. As a result, there is no specific medium that I work in.

When I got to Princeton, doing anything relating to Visual Arts and design was the last thing on my mind. I had spent most of my life leading up to Princeton focused on programming and the sciences. Art was something I never *really* understood either. Because I had no formal training in the more traditional “fine arts” such as painting and drawing, I had just assumed that art wasn’t really of interest to me.

That was, until I took VIS215 my Freshman Spring with David Reinfurt. For the longest time, I had always struggled with the fact that my interests spanned so many different disciplines. This course, more than anything, showed me graphic design was a discipline in which I could continue exploring these interests, making visual work along the way.

Since then, I have gone further down the rabbit hole of conceptual graphic design to the point where many of my friends ask me whether or not I am even a computer science major any more.

What makes the VIS program so amazing for me is not only the faculty, who are constantly there to support us, but also our amazing peers, whom constantly inspire me and push me further.

If you have any questions about the program, want to check out the studios, or just want to talk about art, I’d love to grab coffee (or tea) (or a meal) (or just hang out)!

Class of '18

Program in Visual Arts

Residential College

Mathey

Email Address

eyli@princeton.edu

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