Hung Liu

Memory, both individual and collective, is an important theme in the work of Chinese-American artist Hung Liu, who seamlessly blends her individual story with larger themes of history, the passing of time, migration, immigration, and how we are connected to both past and future generations through our shared human experiences.

 

This exhibition features a selection of original oil paintings, mixed media works on panel, and painted aluminum cutouts. Based on the Dustbowl and Depression Era photographs of photographer Dorothea Lange, Liu’s current works seamlessly blend American documentary photography with the artist’s signature fluid style of drips and washes.

 

As an immigrant from China, and witness to wars, famines, and revolutions in Maoist era China, Liu feels she is a kindred spirit to the people depicted in Lange’s photography – the many disenfranchised and impoverished Americans who hoped for a better life amidst a bleak and unrelenting landscape. Liu’s works both acknowledge the tragedies of poverty, hunger and displacement, while also celebrating the resilience and perseverance of the human spirit.