Cindy Li
𖦹 About
Last updated May 24th, 2026
Use desktop for best viewing experience.
With photography assistance from Nick Bouffard and welding assistance from Christian Buckendorf.
Stitch Chair is the outcome of a series of formal experiments threading metal into wood. The form language and joinery borrow from traditional windsor chairs, but the outcome is not quite. To produce two identical chairs, I developed 10 different jigs and fixtures. Made with cherry and cold rolled steel.
in Collaboration with Hrishita Acharya, Francesca Golden, and Catherine Huang
The Magic Circle is a collaborative board game designed to help people practice communal problem solving. Playing as a group of magical woodland creatures trapped in an ancient cave, you must work together to escape before its complete collapse!
Pinch Chair began through a formal exploration of poplar. The “pinched” component was developed through a series of experiments with v-cuts and tapering, arriving at a form that is hollow, lightweight, yet retaining the strength of the material. Joined with dowels and pegs.
In Collaboration with Callie Coccia, Liz Collins, Farnaz Dastranj, Xiao Guo, Kati Lowe, Mary Mitchell, and the RISD Museum.
Homecoming is an installation within Liz Collins’ career retrospective Motherlode at the RISD Museum, gathering works by queer artists in the RISD community. As part of a cohort of students, we worked closely with Liz and the museum staff to curate and design the exhibition.
In conversation with Liz’s previous work at the Center and Touchstone Rochedale, we approached Homecoming as both a reflection of the queer community at RISD, and an invitation to imagine the RISD Museum as a social space. Throughout the show’s duration, we designed a series of programming that invited artists in Homecoming to engage with visitors through their work.
Inspired by the vibrant zine-culture in Providence, I designed a map and information take-away for the installation—a piece of ephemera that both encourages visitors to find out more about the artists, and addresses the presentation of information in the limited gallery space. The take-away unwraps into a poster of the salon wall. Utilizing the direction of the folds, readers are able to cross-reference artworks to artists without needing to flip back and forth.
Special Thanks to Susan Joy Share and Roni Gross. Made at Haystack Mountain School of Craft.
Falling is a Jacob’s ladder box that holds a conversation between two pine cones. Edition of two.
To read the book, position the book with the title upright. Tilt the cover upward to reveal side A. In each of Side A’s two compartments is an accordion book recording the dialogue spoken by one of the pine cones. The conversation can be aligned using the hole-punched edge. When finished with side A, tilt the cover downward to reveal side B—a holding space where one pine cone waits for the other.
As part of the University of British Columbia Vancouver Summer Program, I had the fortune of visiting and speaking to one of the organizers of the Chin Wing Chun Society in Vancouver Chinatown. This zine synthesizes the research and interviews I conducted, and unfolds into a poster. Risograph printed in fluorescent pink, yellow, blue, and black.
After some conversations with Evan Heath, the director of this production, we wanted to create something that visually pays homage to both the AIDS Memorial Quilts and Keith Haring’s bold original playbill. Poster and Programs were risograph printed in red, sunflower yellow, cornflower blue, and black.
In collaboration with the Second Life Exchange—RISD’s campus materials reuse center, I facilitated a mending workshop walking students through different visible mending techniques. Students received free materials and tea, courtesy of Carr Haus Cafe.