Crystal Liu: you gave me everything

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Galerie du Monde presents “you gave me everything”, an exhibition of recent works by Canadian-Chinese artist Crystal Liu from 26 April to 3 June 2023. This is Liu’s third exhibition with the gallery. She draws on inspirations from her daily life experiences, her relationships, and her curiosity of the beauty and complexities of nature and human emotions as raw material for her artistic practice.

After the sudden loss of her father at the beginning of the pandemic, Liu went on many long walks in nature to find comfort. Flowers in particular helped her heal and be more hopeful. The painting series “our place” was developed during this period with the intention to create a dream garden for her and her father to meet again.

Composed primarily of watercolor, ink, gouache and gold leaf on paper, “the rock garden” painting series is an extension of Liu’s garden cosmos, inspired by her studies in floral arrangement, still life and Chinese rockery. Flowers such as lily of the valley, asters, chamomile, cosmos and quince make their debut in this series that explores the theme of what it is to be loved unconditionally by someone, and how that person shapes us.

These magnified portrayals of nature allowed the artist to express intense emotions. Boulders holding up the oceans and skies filled with stars and weeping flowers. Each arrangement is a world unto itself, with lessons of life, love and hopes – creating new worlds and finding new ways to thrive.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Crystal Liu (b. 1980) majored in photography at Ontario College of Art & Design and received an MFA in New Genres at the San Francisco Art Institute in 2005. Her work is collected by many public and private collections internationally, such as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the US Embassy Beijing Art Collection; the City of San Francisco; the Progressive Art Collection; and The Fidelity Art Collection, among others. Liu lives and works in California.