As a largely self-taught artist, Li Chen began his artistic practice by first producing traditional Buddhist sculpture. Ultimately feeling restrained by the strict formal guidelines of Buddhist iconography, Li began to mould his Buddhas and Bodhisattvas into jovial rotund figures with smooth contours finished with shiny black Chinese lacquer. While still retaining profound spirituality, drawn from his study of Buddhist and Taoist philosophies, Li incorporates the concept of Qi, life energy or energy flow, into his sculptures. The augmented and pleasant figures are reflections of this concept, the primary active principle that constitutes all living things.

The Buddha in the Cloud [Lot 2386] is a sculpture that embodies Li's artistic language of harmony, that is not only a representation of traditional Chinese spiritual philosophies found in Buddhist and Taoist scriptures but is a manifestation of the artist's own personal spiritual beliefs. Created in 2002, the reflective silver cloud surrounding the Buddha suggests the purity of an immaculate soul. Like many of Li's subjects that feature a floating figure, balanced lightly, the Buddha in this lot stands atop of a mountainous base with his head peeping coyly out of silvery clouds. When viewed in its entirety, the cloud equally suggests a pair of angelic wings, while the shine and puissance of the clouds reflected against the black lacquered figure of the Buddha exhibits a harmonious apprehension of great sublimity in reaching a celestial state of enlightenment. The balanced interaction between the dark shimmer of black Chinese lacquer set against the luminous silvery finish of the cloud is iconic to Li's signature style. The buoyant rotund figure of the Buddha invites surprise from viewers who appreciate the works paradoxical use of heavy, dark, and metallic materials to produce a vision of lightness, enlightenment, and a distinctly celestial joy.