Artist 23: Hung Liu

Combining traditional Chinese painting motifs with historical photographs for reference, Hung Liu creates paintings that express the dichotomy between the western and eastern perspectives on Chinese culture. The photographs she uses for reference are "usually" those of Chinese citizens taken by foreigners. Effectively, this subject matter is suggestive of the western view of china looking from the outside in. To complement her references, she combines traditional Chinese painting motifs such as birds, flowers, and stamps. According to her artist statement, her work is ultimately a new form of history painting that dissolves the socialist propaganda of the images to re-portray these historical figures in a mythical mode.


Her work is simply fascinating. Within one composition, she manages to fit massive amounts of content. First, she has the borderline realist figure-work which has a sense of photographic authenticity, almost like an objective filter. Second, the cultural motifs add a reflective element to her compositions which makes the photographic reference personal. Additionally, the watercolor-esque streams trailing down in her compositions resemble the watered down effects of memories, further emphasizing the historical nature of her work. Overall, her work is beautifully arranged.

More of her artwork may be found here.