Crystal Liu: weighing it out
Crystal Liu constructs landscapes that are metaphors for her emotional states. In large-scale paintings on paper that incorporate her adaptation of the technique of marbleized paper along with watercolor and metallic pigments, the fundamental elements of earth and sky enact narratives of conflict, entrapment, longing, and precarious hope.
There are echoes of the centuries-old tradition of Chinese ink brush painting in the swirls of marbleized black ink and the efficient distillation of line, form and color into evocative depictions of stone, mountain ranges, and subterranean cross-sections of earth. Metallic gold pigment provides a stark contrast in the form of a moon and hundreds of stars, which become the protagonists in an epic odyssey of faith and tenacity against the daunting forces of reality.
Crystal Liu’s parents emigrated from China to Toronto, Canada, where she was born in 1980. Liu majored in photography at the Ontario College of Art & Design and received an MFA at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2005. She resides in San Francisco.
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Crystal Liuthe moon and the tides, 'please be gentle', 2016collage, gouache, ink and watercolor on papertriptych. each panel: 44 x 30 inches/111.8 x 76.2 cm -
Crystal Liuin dreams, 'nestled', 2016gouache, watercolor and collage on paper30 x 30 in
76.2 x 76.2 cm -
Crystal Liuunderground, 'stuck in between', 2016collage, gouache, ink and watercolor on paper47 x 104 inches/119.4 x 264.2 cm
triptych. each panel 44 x 30 inches/111.7 x 76.2 cm -
Crystal Liuthe mountains, 'the wait', 2016gouache, watercolor and ink on paper30 x 30 in
76.2 x 76.2 cm -
Crystal Liuthe mountains, 'breach', 2016gouache, watercolor and collage on paper30 x 30 in
76.2 x 76.2 cm -
Crystal Liuthe mountains, 'this must be the place', 2016collage, gouache, ink and watercolor on paper50 x 50 inches
framed: 54 1/2 x 54 inches -
Crystal Liutrying to get there, 'a good night', 2016collage, gouache, ink and watercolor on paper38 x 38 in
96.5 x 96.5 cm -
Crystal Liutrying to get there, 'hold still', 2016collage, gouache, and watercolor on paper38 x 38 in
96.5 x 96.5 cm -
Crystal Liuunderground, 'someday, maybe', 2016collage, gouache, and watercolor on paper38 x 38 inches
framed: 42 x 42 inches -
Crystal Liua balancing act, 'holding it together', 2016gouache, watercolor and collage on paper44 x 30 in
111.8 x 76.2 cm -
Crystal Liuin dreams, 'it escapes me', 2016collage, gouache, ink and watercolor on paper50 x 50 in
127 x 127 cm -
Crystal Liuunderground, 'uplifted', 2016gouache, watercolor, ink and collage on paper30 x 30 inches
framed: 34 x1/2 x 4 inches -
Crystal Liutrying to get there, 'trying to get there', 2016gouache, watercolor and collage on paper30 x 30 in
76.2 x 76.2 cm -
Crystal Liua balancing act, "weighing it out II"', 2016collage, gouache, and watercolor on paper30 x 30 in
76.2 x 76.2 cm -
Crystal Liuthe moon and the tides, 'swept me off my feet', 2016gouache, watercolor and collage on paper44 x 30 in
111.8 x 76.2 cm
