Chinese singer-songwriter Chen Chusheng, who won Hunan TV’s “Singer 2025” award, commissioned contemporary artist Li Erpeng to paint 14 original works for the vinyl release of his album “Wasteland of Wonders”.
On June 9, the day pre-orders opened, QQ Music awarded the vinyl edition a “Double Diamond” sales certification.
“I’ve always felt that music is more than just something we hear,” Chen said. “With this LP, I hope people can not only listen but also see the emotions, fractures, and growth in ‘Wasteland of Wonders’.”
Chen said Li was an artist he greatly admired and thanked him for turning the album into “a work of art that I want to keep forever.”
Some of the images respond to certain pieces. Others arose from stories and imaginary scenes that emerged as the work progressed. As a set, they create a visual landscape around the record and offer listeners a second way to understand the album’s moods.
Li’s 14 canvases gradually took shape as he worked with the music, combining images taken from the songs with ideas that developed as he painted. According to Li, powerful music creates its own world, and his job is to transfer this world to the canvas.
“When people pick up this physical LP, I hope they not only hear the songs, but also see the life, growth, and hope in the images,” he said.
Because the images are placed within the vinyl packaging, the artwork becomes a part of how fans perceive the album, connecting the records to the visual stories found alongside them. Winners Gallery represents Li for the collaboration.
Based in Hong Kong, Li creates collectibles modeled after legendary figures, including athletes. His recent works combine painting with detailed sculptural frames, so that the portrait and the structure around it function as a single work of art. Beyond the “The Waste Land of Wonder” commission, his work has also been brought to film. He is currently working on the world of CG animation for a film that is in pre-production. The Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum in Beijing and the White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney hold his works in their collections.
Chen first became a household name in China after winning Hunan TV’s “Super Boy” program in 2007, and later returned to the broadcaster to take first prize in the channel’s biggest singing competition, “Singer 2025.” His stadium concert in Nanchang in April 2026 attracted as many as 50,000 fans, a personal attendance record at the time. According to Beijing Radio and Television, all 50,000 tickets were sold out within 24 minutes. A report by Nanchang’s state assets authority attributed close to RMB 1 billion ($149 million) in local consumer spending to the show.