‘I create a space with flowers, plants, and any other materials, for people to contemplate, to celebrate and to enjoy.’

- Yuli Liang

I am aesthetics researcher and Ikebana artist. Following my studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, I worked as talent management consultant between 2011–2020 in Shanghai, China. While pursuing a professional career, I enriched my creativity through art. A visit to Ryoanji Temple Rock Garden in Kyoto eight years ago embarked me a passionate journey to practise Ikebana, a meditative Zen art also known as “flower path”. I am accredited with Advisor Diploma of Ikebana, by Sogetsu Foundations, Tokyo. I enjoy inspiring people by demonstrating the beauty of imperfections and enhancing imaginative ability through improvising.

In 2021, I came to Germany to conduct research at the Graduate School of Human Behaviour in Social and Economic Change (GSBC) at Friedrich Schiller University Jena. My paper Creative Process as Structured Experimentation - An Introspective Study draws on the theory of deliberate practice, examines the embodied and procedural aspects of creativity, and demonstrates how improvisation emerges through deliberate and disciplined experimentation. My three-year research project, which involves an in-depth case study of Erste Bank, explores the aesthetics and symbolism in banking architecture. I am currently a guest lecturer at the Chair of Organization, Leadership, and Human Resource Management, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, at Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

It's hard to define me.

Perhaps the statement by Johann Gottlieb Fichte in his book, 'The Vocation of Man (Die Bestimmung des Menschen)', 140 years ago, comes close:

"My mind can take no hold on the present world, nor rest in it a moment, but my whole nature rushes onward with irresistible force towards a future and better state of being.”

Such is my force.

For ikebana displays or performances at your residence, commercial venue, or public space, please contact me at yuli.liang(at)hotmail.com.

For academic engagements related to Creativity and Experimentation or Innovation and Culture: Institutional Innovation and Cultural Materiality, please reach out to me at yuli.liang(at)uni-jena.de.