LIU JIANHUA

Art’s path is a continuous exploration for the thoughtful artist. After working mainly in the medium of ceramics, Liu Jianhua turned towards experimenting with a variety of integrated materials. Though the artist’s earlier work focused on personal feelings, he later began to demonstrate a more clear concern for social issues. Liu Jianhua has now aimed his attention towards the creation of a more formal stage.

Liu Jianhua’s earlier works Play focus on elements of “cheongsam,” a traditional one-piece Chinese women’s dress imbued with strong sensory qualities, to address its importance in Chinese culture. In 1994, Liu began his Discordant series, which marked the first time the artist’s work clearly expressed his deep concern for social issues. In this series, he placed the lower parts of nude female dummies together with Sun Yat-Sen jackets, demonstrating the distinct, though rather controversial, form of the works. Liu Jianhua then created Secretseries and Obsessive Memories series. The texture of these ceramics demonstrates the energetic characteristics of modern society. The co-existence of hard and fragile features illustrates the modern public’s unstable obsession with material objects.