Sweatshop & Dream marks the beginning of Li’s ongoing investigation into labour, control, and the hidden systems that structure everyday life. Developed during her foundation year in London, the project took the form of an immersive installation that transformed the gallery into a darkroom in response to the realities of sweatshop labour.

The project was prompted by the widely reported worker suicides at Foxconn factories, which exposed harsh and restrictive working conditions, including limited breaks and the erosion of basic rights. Alongside researching these reports, Li visited small factories in her hometown of Xiamen, China, photographing sites, interviewing workers, and gathering first-hand accounts of cramped environments, poor lighting, and extreme temperatures.

Within the exhibition, copies of the collected research materials were sealed in transparent plastic bags and displayed throughout the darkened space. Visitors were required to wear headlamps to navigate the exhibition and read the documents, placing them physically within an environment shaped by limited visibility and heightened effort.

The installation culminated in a mountain of stacked toilets illuminated by red heating lamps. Tin foil lined the walls, reflecting the heat and light to create a furnace-like atmosphere. The excess of toilets evoked the overwhelming number of workers and the sense of neglect embedded in factory systems.
Sweatshop & Dream draws attention to the human cost behind global manufacturing, confronting viewers with the ethical implications of consumption and the mechanisms of exploitation within assembly-line production.