Take some lasers and shine them on the surface of a plane mirror and countless laser beams are reflected up to the ceiling. Chinese artist Li Hui's display entranced visitors to his latest exhibition, in the cloud-filled central corridor of Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in Beijing.

"According to Chinese Chan Buddhism, when two kinds of energies collide, a new energy emerges," says the 34-year-old artist.

"This new energy is unknown, just like the feeling visitors must get when they see my works, which cannot be expressed in words."

The exhibition, V, is so called because the reflection through the mirror forms a "V". It features the artist's experiments with laser light, which produces pure colors to create strong visual movement.

His earlier works, including The Wall, The Door, and Amber, saw the artist developing what he calls "light sculpture".

"The marriage of arts and science gives birth to a beautiful visual impact. This new work is a study of technology and space," Li says.

"This kind of beauty is quite personal. But I believe in mental communication rather than verbal explanation. And the artwork will generate certain effects among the visitors."

As one of the new generation of young Chinese artists, Beijing-born Li has had a love of cutting-edge technology since childhood, along with a strong interest in Taoism and Buddhism.

"Looking back over my studies, I determined that we were instructed in Western artistic techniques, but in terms of content and even spirit, we learned from the Eastern tradition," he explains.

Li says he has enjoyed drawing since elementary school and at senior high school attended fashion design school, which he was not interested in to begin with.

"I guess it was the way the professor lectured. I wasn't interested in what he taught. Besides, in the class there were only just boys, but 33 students. I wasn't comfortable with that percentage," he says.

It took him three years to enter Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and study sculpture, where he learned to use stainless steel, wood and many other materials to create his artworks.

He says that he only learned to use light as a material for art after his studies at school. He says LED light and its effects were the beginning of his love affair with light.

"If you don't handle it well, the outcome can be awful. Everyone can use light in their works, but it may not always be a good material to help them express their ideas," Li says.

His love of challenge and experimentation drove him to explore new technologies. "The history of art has always been written and created by those who dare to take risks ... good artists should never restrict themselves," he says.

His sculptures and installations often take over a space, merging, with other materials such as lasers and LED lights, to create dreamlike or dramatically changed environments.

China Daily