Artwork Description
Hung Liu – Spring Chick
Dimensions: 41 x 41″ finished size
Year: 2011
Medium: mixed media on panel
This figure is from Hung’s photos from the 70’s, when she was sent out to Western China to be a peasant. The same series of photos that the duotones are made from. The chick is a symbol of youth and innocence. She used the fish as a caricature for herself, if it has kind of a big eye looking upward and a seeming smile on it’s face. It’s looking at the circle. Some of the fishes that represent her have big goggly eyes, and look like they are rolling their eyes. It’s kind of her laughing at herself. This one looks pretty peaceful and content. The flowers, chrysanthemums are a symbol of endurance because they bloom in the cold season.
Hung Liu, working with master printer David Salgado, developed a unique method of creating her mixed media works in which she places layers of resin, paint, and metal leaf on panel. This process creates the impression of great depth in her works, as well as a sheen reminiscent of Chinese porcelain. The inspiration for this technique came from her public art installation at the Oakland Airport, titled “Going Away, Coming Home,” where she had the opportunity to paint on glass. She loved the way the sunlight emanated through the translucent layers of paint. This led her to seek the same luminescence in other of her works.
Hung Liu’s mixed media resin works are included in numerous important museums throughout the world; among them the San Jose Museum of Art and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, which boasts the largest collection of these works and is curating a comprehensive exhibition and book documenting them. Hung Liu is honored that one of these works was included in the major exhibition “Gold” featuring important artworks throughout the history of art that have included gold leaf, at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, Austria.