Artwork Description
Hung Liu – The Unknown III-A
Dimensions: 41 x 41″
Year: 2015
Medium: mixed media on panel
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. This unique mixed media work, The Unknown III, from 2015 measures 41 x 41 inches and is in very good condition. Liu’s work has been widely exhibied internationally and is housed in prestigious collections of museums worldwide including the Whitney Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and SFMoMA. (C) Hung Liu Estate. The work is signed by the artist. This image of a dandelion is an autobiographical symbol. Liu often painted images of Chinese prostitues whose identities had been lost after they were sold by their families during times of famine, and their given names were replaced by names of flowers and precious stones. The dandelion, for Liu, was a flower she internalized because like her own migration from China to America, it was a beautiful flower that migrated, and it could establish roots wherever it landed. She also remarked that the dandelion was both a “beautful flower as well as a tough weed” that started off with a full head of yellow hair, which transformed to grey and then fell out. This was a highly personal image for Hung Liu, and an exceptionally important, rare work.