the fog, "rolling in", gouache, watercolour, ink, and collage on paper

Crystal Liu is an artist who works in gouache, watercolour, ink, and other traditional media, producing detailed mixed media artworks that draw on both traditional Chinese and contemporary art styles. The artist also works in photography, using a similar aesthetic language applied to a very different medium.

I always meant to love you, "lean in", gouache, watercolour, ink, and collage on paper

I love the way that Liu uses the language of traditional painting and puts a contemporary spin on it. Many of these works have a similar tone to traditional Asian paintings, like those of Wa Truong, for example, but Liu’s use of marbled pigments in cut-out and collaged shapes lends a kind of illustrative sharpness that is in contrast to the gestural, melting brush marks often seen in traditional watercolour.

Liu’s photographs are an exercise in delicate beauty -- a recent series showcases flowers, apparently trapped in ice, photographed close-up to emphasize the sense of the uncanny in seeing such a fragile yet beautiful form preserved in an inherently destructive fashion.

give us our dream: part two, "delphinium", digital c-print