Artist conjures up a soothing and poetic atmosphere
GONE with the wind. That’s what young female young artist Liu Yi wants to reflect in her solo exhibition currently underway at ShanghART Gallery through the end of April.
The exhibition features a continuous screening of an 8-minute-long ink-wash animation created by her, plus a 4-meter-long chiffon painted with ink-wash brushstrokes floating in the air.
When stepping into the exhibition hall, visitors will be immediately drawn to the soothing and poetic atmosphere conjured up by the artist.
Born in 1990 in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, Liu graduated from the China Academy of Art’s School of Intermedia Art in Hangzhou in 2012 and got her master’s degree at the same school in 2016.
Liu deploys various media through animation, multimedia as well as installation to reflect her daily experience, while discovering boundless possibilities with space in her works.
Her primary research is on “early Chinese art films and experimental animation.” In 2017, “A Crow Has Been Calling for a Whole Day” was showcased at the Holland Animation Film Festival. She then received a Special Recommendation award at the Hua International Short Film Festival in Beijing.
Recently, Liu was invited to participate in the SeMa Nanji Residency project, which was hosted by the Seoul Museum of Art in South Korea.
Liu’s animation videos feature seemingly unrelated scenes where she paints the naked back of several women grouped together, a pair of hands playing mahjong or people doing physical exercises.
According to the artist, that might refer to the fragments of memories that urban people are facing in their lives today. These scenes echo with the chiffon floating in the air, indicating that life is akin to a gust of wind.
“Wind always circles around,” Liu explains. “It often takes away the once unforgettable things or the words we vow to keep. I’ll have to thank the wind for its gift of disappearance.”
Date: Through April 30, Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-5pm
Venue: ShanghART Gallery Address: Bldg 16,
50 Moganshan Rd