Li Shan
Born 1942, Lanxi; lives in Shanghai
Reading, 2006
Digital chromogenic print, 47 3/16 x 35 3/8 in.
Courtesy of Chambers Fine Art, New York

Description
New discoveries in genetic research inspired Li Shan’s fantastic depictions of insects and plants that have human skin, hair, and lips. His series of photographs titled Readings does not show actual genetically altered beings created in a biotech laboratory-they are pictorial speculations, achieved through Photoshop, on the intriguing possibilities of genetic manipulation. To him, the implications of genetically engineered mutations are not to be feared. “Unseen until now,” Li Shan says, “a hybrid of human/fish or human/butterfly could be a fantastic enrichment of the world as we know it.”

Community Response by Joshua Ling
“In this photograph, at first glance, one might just interpret it as being several flowers; however, if one takes the time to analyze this picture further, one would realize that human skin with hair has been fused onto the flower petals. I interpret this picture as the photographer attempting to show the current advancements in scientific technologies with DNA recombination and mutations and China’s willingness to participate in this movement.”