Liu Zhuoquan
Liu Zhuoquan is a traditional Chinese artist who has displayed political, cultural and social concepts in each of his works. He commonly uses the traditional technique of the ‘neihua’ technique, meaning ‘inside painting.’ He has used recycled quotidian objects, such as bottles and containers, to symbolise his experience during the Cultural Revolution, where items were not wasted but reused. Liu creates displays themes of the natural world, such as insects and plants and confronting human components, such as severed hands and fingers, which develop ideas and convey issues in the world around us. These artworks include, ‘Broken Finger’ and ‘World of Thousands,’ which were both created in 2010 and ‘Chang’an Avenue,’ created in 2013.
Liu’s ‘Broken Finger’ artwork reflects concerns of Chinese industrial workers. It is an installation measuring up to 98 centimetres by 64 centimetres by 12 centimetres. It is a series of 28 recycled glass bottles with images of detached, severed fingers and hands painted inside of the bottle. The pictures have been painted with mineral pigments using the traditional ‘neihua’ technique. This technique uses thin, bent, longhaired brushes to paint the interior of bottles. The bottles are organised on five white shelves and are all different shapes and sizes. The confronting images convey the poor conditions of the Chinese factories for workers. They are unethical, unhealthy and unsafe. The workers usually are unable to afford medical treatments, which result in extreme injuries, such as loss of fingers, hands, limbs or even the loss of life. "It made me wonder how many fingers have been lost over the years," Liu says. This installation conveys shock and terror to the audience and encouragers them to realise the seriousness of the environment of Chinese industries and calls for change and improvement of these working conditions for labourers.
‘World of Thousands,’ is a similar installation to ‘Broken Fingers,’ featuring various glass bottles. Thousands of bottles line up on shelves, engulfing the audience into his work. The bottles feature images also using the ‘neihua’ technique, symbolising the natural world, such as insects and foliage and human concepts of deformed babies and severed limbs. The large amount of the items displayed is similar to mass production relating to China’s global economy. China is the highest manufacturing country in the world, creating more of the world’s products than any other continent. The shelves cover the walls right up to the ceiling and placed in a dimly lit room. Some light sources are placed randomly behind bottles, focussing the audience to look pacifically at them. The lighting creates an eerie atmosphere creating an environment similar to the polluted and cloudy lit streets of China and conditions of labourer factories.
Each of his works use recycled items, such as bottles and containers, which convey political, cultural and social issues that Liu faced in China. It represents Liu’s experience during the Cultural Revolution where Moa was dominated China. Moa developed ‘the Great Leap forward’ to modernise China’s economy, however this restricted freedom and caused poverty for the Chinese people. This is where people became to understand the value of trashed items. The confronting paintings of severed hands and fingers and the closed, contained bottles display the results of the poor conditions that were experienced by labourers working in Chinese factories,"the bottle is a metaphor for cultural struggle in a tight, sometimes suffocating environment," the artist explains. Liu also experienced a number of years in Tibet where he developed an interest in understanding the relationships with the spiritual, natural and material world. Large scale artworks, such as ‘World of Thousands,’ encompass the audience in a world where they do not have control over everything that is going on. People are generally caught up on electronic devices and continuous work that sometimes there is no time to embody into the spiritual world. Through this, Liu expresses his beliefs in Tibetan Buddhism.
The ‘inside painting’ technique that Liu continues to use in his artworks, developed during the Qing Dynasty in China when it was only used by craftsmen to decorate ornamental snuff bottles. ‘With the onset of the communist regime, Chinese society and traditions were ruptured and artisanal crafts such as snuff bottle painting were forbidden as part of an attempt to expunge material expressions of wealth or status,’ quoted from the ‘Liu Zhuoquan’ article by Sarah Vanderpeer (on ‘Stellar Downer of Art’ website). Liu may have used the technique in his artworks as a way of protesting freely against this policy and express his culture and belief.
In Liu Zhuoquan’s recent artwork, ‘Chang’an Avenue,’ it continues to use similar techniques and materials. It symbolises the loneliness and isolation of ‘China’s first street’ and the amount of history that occurred on the street. He uses lampposts made of steel with glass, which suggests the dull glow of lights on the streets of China. Crows, which would usually crowd the avenue during the months of autumn and winter have been painted intriquately and detailed with mineral pigments onto the insides of the glass lampposts, also using the ‘neihua’ technique.
Liu Zhuoquan has displayed artworks, which reflects and comments on the political, cultural and social issues and ideas of the world. He has successfully shown this through the choice of traditional techniques and recycled and found materials. He intrigues the audience into uncovering the meanings behind his work and encourages them to draw up solutions in order to make a difference to the future of this materialistic society.
Liu’s ‘Broken Finger’ artwork reflects concerns of Chinese industrial workers. It is an installation measuring up to 98 centimetres by 64 centimetres by 12 centimetres. It is a series of 28 recycled glass bottles with images of detached, severed fingers and hands painted inside of the bottle. The pictures have been painted with mineral pigments using the traditional ‘neihua’ technique. This technique uses thin, bent, longhaired brushes to paint the interior of bottles. The bottles are organised on five white shelves and are all different shapes and sizes. The confronting images convey the poor conditions of the Chinese factories for workers. They are unethical, unhealthy and unsafe. The workers usually are unable to afford medical treatments, which result in extreme injuries, such as loss of fingers, hands, limbs or even the loss of life. "It made me wonder how many fingers have been lost over the years," Liu says. This installation conveys shock and terror to the audience and encouragers them to realise the seriousness of the environment of Chinese industries and calls for change and improvement of these working conditions for labourers.
‘World of Thousands,’ is a similar installation to ‘Broken Fingers,’ featuring various glass bottles. Thousands of bottles line up on shelves, engulfing the audience into his work. The bottles feature images also using the ‘neihua’ technique, symbolising the natural world, such as insects and foliage and human concepts of deformed babies and severed limbs. The large amount of the items displayed is similar to mass production relating to China’s global economy. China is the highest manufacturing country in the world, creating more of the world’s products than any other continent. The shelves cover the walls right up to the ceiling and placed in a dimly lit room. Some light sources are placed randomly behind bottles, focussing the audience to look pacifically at them. The lighting creates an eerie atmosphere creating an environment similar to the polluted and cloudy lit streets of China and conditions of labourer factories.
Each of his works use recycled items, such as bottles and containers, which convey political, cultural and social issues that Liu faced in China. It represents Liu’s experience during the Cultural Revolution where Moa was dominated China. Moa developed ‘the Great Leap forward’ to modernise China’s economy, however this restricted freedom and caused poverty for the Chinese people. This is where people became to understand the value of trashed items. The confronting paintings of severed hands and fingers and the closed, contained bottles display the results of the poor conditions that were experienced by labourers working in Chinese factories,"the bottle is a metaphor for cultural struggle in a tight, sometimes suffocating environment," the artist explains. Liu also experienced a number of years in Tibet where he developed an interest in understanding the relationships with the spiritual, natural and material world. Large scale artworks, such as ‘World of Thousands,’ encompass the audience in a world where they do not have control over everything that is going on. People are generally caught up on electronic devices and continuous work that sometimes there is no time to embody into the spiritual world. Through this, Liu expresses his beliefs in Tibetan Buddhism.
The ‘inside painting’ technique that Liu continues to use in his artworks, developed during the Qing Dynasty in China when it was only used by craftsmen to decorate ornamental snuff bottles. ‘With the onset of the communist regime, Chinese society and traditions were ruptured and artisanal crafts such as snuff bottle painting were forbidden as part of an attempt to expunge material expressions of wealth or status,’ quoted from the ‘Liu Zhuoquan’ article by Sarah Vanderpeer (on ‘Stellar Downer of Art’ website). Liu may have used the technique in his artworks as a way of protesting freely against this policy and express his culture and belief.
In Liu Zhuoquan’s recent artwork, ‘Chang’an Avenue,’ it continues to use similar techniques and materials. It symbolises the loneliness and isolation of ‘China’s first street’ and the amount of history that occurred on the street. He uses lampposts made of steel with glass, which suggests the dull glow of lights on the streets of China. Crows, which would usually crowd the avenue during the months of autumn and winter have been painted intriquately and detailed with mineral pigments onto the insides of the glass lampposts, also using the ‘neihua’ technique.
Liu Zhuoquan has displayed artworks, which reflects and comments on the political, cultural and social issues and ideas of the world. He has successfully shown this through the choice of traditional techniques and recycled and found materials. He intrigues the audience into uncovering the meanings behind his work and encourages them to draw up solutions in order to make a difference to the future of this materialistic society.