In this Ali Lee interview, give her a sheet of paper and a pen, and she will draw what the moment asks of her. Facing a blank page, when she concentrates, the colors, lines and composition that flow from her pen, whether chaotic or rendered with delicate ink, reflect her mood in that instant.
Drama or comedy, each time she appears on screen she sparks conversation. Her roles and performances become focal points, whether she plays a stern judge, an anxious expectant mother, or the recently portrayed divorced mother Wang Limei. Her work has won growing public recognition, and many viewers now consider her one of their favorite leading actresses. Beyond television, she has become active in the art world, practicing ink painting and making ceramics in private. She recently exhibited ceramics publicly to help raise funds for students from grassroots backgrounds, using art to move others and herself. That heartfelt approach has helped establish her reputation as a poised and gracious presence, often described as a woman of rare temperament.
She says she is naturally sentimental and likes to use painting, calligraphy, words and images to mark lifes stages, sharing that private art with others. More than performance, art gives her a way to talk with her inner self. Today we do not discuss acting, instead we listen to her thoughts on the art of living and the role art plays in her life.
She is the cover subject of our April issue, Ali Lee (李佳芯).
“All living things are a form of art”
“Even a single instant of contact is already life existing,” she says.
Art means different things to different people. Some see it as remote, some see it as born from everyday life, even from the smallest detail. For Ali Lee, art has a clear definition: “Anything that has life is a form of art. Once you put life into an object, it changes from an inanimate thing into something that can communicate, move and resonate with people.”
To her, all artistic forms share the same impulse. Whether painting, sculpture, dance or acting, creators seek to express themselves and their lives. When others sense a spark of recognition or engage with a work, “when people feel that interaction, even for a brief instant of contact, life is present,” she said. “That is art.”
Acting connects naturally with other arts because the craft invites many sensory stimuli and lived experiences. That process helps an actor discover new possibilities. Even when reason guides the work, the inward search and the act of discovery can be pure. The key is whether performer and audience can generate mutual resonance.
“My life and my work, I am used to giving life to everything,” she said.
Ali originally moved from hosting to acting, a choice she traces to temperament. “I am definitely an emotional person. If I were not that way, I do not think I would have become an actor.” Through acting she can interact inwardly and outwardly. “Acting is a process of inward pursuit and discovery.” She said that beyond learning a script, actors must study themselves, develop themselves and be willing to break themselves down. It is an endless process that brings conflicting feelings, doubt and fatigue, yet that intense investment allows actors to uncover hidden aspects of life and present emotionally powerful work.
She treats art as a living element. Acting is not only performance, it is part of daily life, and roles bring life to different people and things. Whether on mountain trails observing fallen leaves or delivering a powerful scene on screen, Ali believes that if you are willing to share and express, life is everywhere.
Art occupies 100 percent of her life.
“Ink painting has no turning back, it feels like life”
“I used to be rather withdrawn,” she admitted.
Ali is often cheerful and exudes health, but she describes an earlier self as shy and reluctant to connect. “I was the kind of person who did not know how to communicate and did not like contact with others. I preferred to live in my own world, full of strange ideas, and I did not know how to sort my emotions.”
Growing up, Ali turned to art to release the pressure of unprocessed emotions. She studied visual arts and continued learning painting and photography as an adult. She explored drawing, watercolor and oil painting, but a chance encounter with a teacher from Taiwan introduced her to ink painting. She was captivated and started a long relationship with ink work.
Compared with oil painting, ink has a far narrower color range; compared with drawing, ink offers less fine precision. Why would she set aside earlier techniques for the restraint of ink? “When you look at a blank sheet of xuan paper, you can sketch a composition lightly with charcoal and then you must put the ink down directly. Ink spreads as you put it down. If you press too hard or the brush holds too much water, the paper will show it, and once you make a mark you cannot go back. That quality reminds me of life.”
Blank xuan paper takes ink drops that fix instantly. New practitioners worry about what to paint, where to place the brush and how much water to use, concerns that can cause hesitation. For Ali those burdens mirror daily life. “If a stroke does not satisfy you, wait for the next one and reorganize your thinking about how to make the next stroke better.”
“That ability to open and then restrain myself is something I want to learn for the rest of my life.”
Art appreciation often divides opinion, because taste is subjective. But Ali seems more drawn to how art and life influence each other than to debates about beauty. Ink washes, the use of empty space and the suspension of the wrist in calligraphy all depend on experience. “Just as life relies on past experience, when you have accumulated enough you know how to take the next step. If you do not have enough confidence and force your way forward, it will show in your stride and your brushwork, and others can see it.”
After years with the brush she says she is still exploring the forms of ink. Her pursuit will continue as part of her life, and the goal is not grand scenic statements but expressing the inner idea in each stroke. “For example, how boldly I let go matters, because boldness creates that spirit. But if I let go without control it becomes out of control. The skill of opening and closing is something I discovered through ink and brushwork.”
She says the mindset and discipline learned from ink painting inform every art she practices and even how she relates to others. That ability to open and restrain herself is what she wants to learn for life.
“The wider the space inside me, the more I can accept outside the world”
“When I can handle myself well, I can present a better self to others,” she said.
Art is sometimes thought to be for distant admiration only because works fail to connect with viewers. As a performer Ali said, “If what I create cannot be understood by others, then I have lost the process of exchange between lives.” She added that expression requires some rational shaping and channels, which is why she believes in moving between reason and feeling. “Because I value that balance, I have always thought that art that can be understood is true art.”
This year marks Alis 13th year since her debut. She humbly credits her onscreen presence in part to the positive energy she projects, and she keeps that energy by seeking balance in daily life.
“Privately, I prefer to spend time in nature because being outdoors is a process of searching and a way to be with myself.” Her on camera vitality can be exhausted, so the routines that give her time to breathe and reflect help her remain steady. “When I can handle myself well, I can present a better self to others, and that rhythm is my life balance.”
“I do not see myself as a goddess,” she said. More than a title, she thinks of herself as a wild child who will take off her shoes and walk on grass. She does not mind getting a tan, freckles or scuffed knees from being active. She values the beauty that comes from within, expressed confidently and freely.
Her advice on cultivating beauty is practical: keep eyes that notice beauty, try to see others strengths, learn respect, kindness, appreciation and gratitude. At the very least, you will be less likely to destroy what you encounter. “This is something I want to do and will keep doing.”
“Keep searching for a better self.”
In recent years Ali has been a familiar face onscreen, but the pandemic upended her routine and kept her at home. She used that time for a deep period of self exploration and wrote a book. “Before I wrote this book my memories were scattered.” Last year she spent more than half a year compiling the essay collection Heart That Moves, and the discipline of assembling past fragments allowed her to review her life from a new vantage point. “Walking through Alis life again like that made me understand myself a bit more.”
Now the essays are complete, and although the world remains unsettled, Ali has returned to creating art for its own sake. She makes ink works, practices calligraphy, and crafts ceramics. “I began to make works; without drama I simply use different ways to find a better self.” She believes all artistic modes are lifelong lessons. “If my inner space expands, my tolerance for the outer world expands. I do not want to stop, because to stop would mean I refuse what the world offers and that I have ceased to progress.”
Different art forms may have conventional entry points and expectations, but from the perspective of life as art, form is no longer only surface layout. Creation is about expressing spiritual satisfaction. If presented with a blank sheet, how would you paint the image of a life lived artistically? We hope to see Alis fluid balance in future work, whether in a single gesture, a phrase, or a single ink drop, so that we may feel her most direct and pure expression.
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Producer: Vicky Wai
Photography: Olivia Tsang
Videography: Andy Lee and Mandy Kan
Styling: Vicky Wai
Make up: Omix B
Hair: Ziv Lau at il Colpo
Video Editor: Andy Lee
Editor: Carson Lin
Designer: Tanna Cheng
Wardrobe: Net A Porter, Lane Crawford, Max Mara
Special Thanks: Venue provided by Whitestone Gallery ; Artwork credit to Whitestone Gallery and the artists
