About Us

How It All Started

Moderlyn was founded in 2021 by Li Qiang, along with a small group of friends who shared one thing in common: a love for the way art can change how a room — and honestly, how a person — feels.

Li Qiang didn't come from a design background. He spent years working a fairly ordinary office job, and the apartment he lived in for most of that time had bare, blank walls. It wasn't until he moved into his first place that was truly his own that he started noticing how empty a home can feel without something on the walls to tell a story. He remembers visiting his grandmother's house as a kid, where every hallway had a painting or a print on it — some faded, some clearly hung crooked for years — and how much warmth those simple pictures brought to the space. That memory stuck with him.

A few years later, while traveling and wandering through local art markets, Li Qiang found himself drawn to the small, independent print stalls tucked between souvenir shops. He'd spend hours flipping through prints, talking to the artists and sellers, and thinking about how hard it was, back home, to find wall art that felt personal without either spending a fortune at a gallery or settling for something generic from a big-box store. That gap is really where the idea for Moderlyn came from.

Building the Company

Starting an online store from scratch wasn't easy, and we won't pretend it was. In the early days, it was Li Qiang and two friends — one with a background in logistics, another who'd always been the "art person" in their friend group — working out of a spare room, packing orders by hand and figuring out shipping logistics through trial and error. There were plenty of setbacks along the way: shipments that got delayed, print partners that didn't work out, and more than a few late nights trying to get a new website to actually function the way they'd pictured it.

What kept the team going was hearing back from early customers — people who sent photos of a print hanging in their new apartment, or a nursery, or a home office they'd finally made feel like their own. Those messages made the harder days worth it.

Why Wall Art

We chose to focus on wall art specifically because it's one of the simplest ways to change how a space feels, without needing a full renovation or a big budget. A blank wall can make even a well-furnished room feel unfinished, and the right piece can pull a whole space together. Li Qiang has talked about wanting Moderlyn to be the kind of store where someone can find a piece that actually feels like them — not just filler for an empty wall, but something they'll still enjoy looking at years later.

What We're About

At Moderlyn, our goal is to make thoughtful wall art accessible — not something reserved for people with big design budgets or gallery connections. We put effort into curating pieces across different styles, from botanical prints to abstract and minimalist designs, so there's something for different tastes and different homes.

We also try to be upfront and honest in how we run things — from clear shipping timelines to a straightforward return process — because we know that buying art online means trusting a photo on a screen, and we don't take that trust lightly.

What You Can Expect From Us

When you shop with Moderlyn, you can expect:

A team that actually reads and responds to your questions, rather than a wall of automated replies
Honest product descriptions and photos, without exaggerated claims
Clear policies around shipping, payment, and returns, so there are no surprises
A shopping experience built by people who genuinely care about how art can shape a home

We're still a relatively small team, and we're proud of that — it means there are real people behind every order, still learning and improving as we grow.