JISP | Liu Yi — An Artistic Reflection on Human Emotions and Relationships | Jing’an Sculpture Park
2026-02-28 12:03

I Really Want to Like You is, in essence, an artistic reflection Liu Yi seeks to provoke regarding human emotions and relationships. By presenting the relationship between a hedgehog and a balloon, she invites viewers to better understand and confront their own fears and contradictions.

The work unfolds within a walk-in installation space. The hedgehog and the balloon appear to be two objects that cannot coexist within the same environment, yet together they construct a space of tension and paradox.

The floor is covered with “spines” made of soft silicone. In two corners of the space sit a pair of “spiked” beanbag chairs, resembling the soft balloons seen in the video component. Visitors are invited to physically enter the installation, immersing themselves in the work’s layered meanings.

Liu Yi explains:
“The soft spikes in the space can be stepped on. At the moment of stepping on them, people instinctively recoil, feeling that the spikes might hurt them. In social life, we share similar experiences — there are things we want to pursue, yet we find ourselves stepping back, distancing ourselves from our imagined possibilities and from what we truly wish to do.”

The collision between softness and sharpness embodied by the hedgehog and the balloon mirrors a common dilemma in interpersonal relationships. We long to establish intimacy with others, yet we simultaneously harbor a fear of being hurt. This fear is sometimes described as ‘philophobia’ — a fear of love — rooted in confusion about the nature and meaning of love itself.

“How to find one’s place in the city, and how to form a relationship with it — this is a complex and subtle emotional connection.”

When relating the work to the theme of this year’s sculpture exhibition, “Spatial Evolution,” Liu Yi elaborates:
“How to find one’s place in the city and build a relationship with it is a complex and subtle emotional bond. The spines, the hedgehog, and the balloon function as metaphors — they represent the small yet delicate emotional shifts we experience in everyday life.”

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Related Artists: LIU YI 刘毅