Artwork Description
Hung Liu – Dandelion with Fish
Dimensions: 32 x 31″ paper / 26 x 26″ plate
Year: 2019
Medium: archival pigment print with gold leaf and handwork
Edition: 1/9
Hung Liu has come to adopt the dandelion as a personal symbol, as they can be found anywhere in the world and thrive wherever they are planted. Their fluffy white heads carry seed pods that are migratory and can survive a journey across vast landscapes – even across oceans – and take root anywhere in the world. For Liu, the dandelion represents her own tenacity and ability to thrive in the face of adversity and hardship.
The dandelion became a focal point for the artist during a road trip in the summer of 2014, when she took numerous photographs of the commonplace flowers in fields. Rendered from these close-up photographs at various national parks and historical sites around the Western U.S., the dandelion images, which may be tattered by a sudden breeze or left whole, each required a different style of painting. In her large-scale paintings based on the photos, most of the depicted dandelions are past their yellow bloom and gone to seed — paradoxically dying while spreading life.