Li Qing’s Neighbor’s Window series is framed by discarded wooden windows that the artist found in the Chinese countryside. Using a large mirror as his ground, Li depicts examples of colonial and other Western art and architecture found throughout Asia. Here, he features the Tokyo garden of esteemed writer Mishima Yukio, a lover of classical Greek sculpture. In a visual paradox, the viewer is simultaneously positioned as an outside observer and, through their reflection in the unpainted parts of the mirror, as part of the image itself.

photo © Museum Associates / LACMA