cathy liu: welcome to the organic world
We met Cathy Liu today.
Before, when Mencher first
introduced her, I was [I’m going to be real here; I pride myself on realness]
on the fence about her body of work. I
thought it was just another set of blobs.
‘Oh they’re pretty blobs, but they’re blobs,’ I first thought. I didn’t really think that they were that
fabulous. I was actually pretty
apathetic to it all. I may have even
rolled my eyes @ them. I feel really bad
about that now.
But I was still relatively open to
having my mind changed, I suppose.
Because after she started talking about her pieces, she converted me –
not to a full believer [I don’t feel the urge to buy them], but I definitely do
respect & enjoy her work now.
 |
AutumnBreeze
Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 36" , 2011
|
Cathy Liu prides herself with
simplicity. Her earlier work was a bit
cluttered, but now she is diving into the pure organic forms of things. Some people see plants when they view her
work; other people see organs; & other people see blobs that you get out of
a lava lamp [that’s me, actually & I say this in the best way possible.] Whatever you see, it definitely has a calming
effect. & it brings a smile to your
face.
Ms. Liu doesn’t dwell on the
political physical. & although I do
like paintings that are deep in those kinds of ways, I don’t like them ALL the
time – she understands that. She
understands that there is a place for strong
socio-economic-political-sexual-whatever talk… & there’s a time to detox
& de-stress & de-everything.
Because sometimes you want a little sanctuary & you don’t want to
feel overwhelmed by art all the time. I
mean she doesn’t think that there’s anything WRONG with heavily political art –
in fact it’s very important in our society to spread ideas in that manner – but
that’s not where she wants to be. She is
more concerned with the feelings that people experience.
& she wants you to experience
happiness. We really do need more
happiness in the world & seeing these organic & simple things… it brings joy.
& joy is a great thing to have.
Sure some more “formal” oriented
people may consider this a failure in formal aesthetics because it doesn’t have
chiaro scuro or shading or enough realistic 3D this or that… but quite frankly fuck them. This painting is less a painting & is
more an actual living & breathing entity – it’s a truly organic form that
hopes to connect to you on some level.
I’m very excited to hang her
show. I hope that we can transcend our
gallery space, though. Although the grey
walls & straight lines were great for photography / photography-based shows
[because it allowed you to really zero in on those pictures & all of the
colors complimented each other], it’s just too rigid for her work. She needs something that compliments her work; she needs something that
flows, not something based on rigidity.
But she still needs stability & we don’t want any of the extra
features of the room to take away from her work. It’s HER show, not the show of how lovely we
can be like Extreme Makeovers: Gallery Edition.
 |
LusciousLemon
Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 48", 2009
|
An idea I really liked was extending
the lines from the portrait out onto the wall & the floor. Her lines [as you can see in the example
above] seem to be endless. They extend
out into everywhere on their own. We
should capitalize on that & exaggerate that to give a complete
experience. Of course I hope that she would
be installing it with us. I wouldn’t be
comfortable leaving that kind of a decision to a few 20-somethings & a
couple older adults if I were in her position, but then again I like to be a
control freak sometimes, especially when it comes to more artistic matters. I do feel that paint would be best… but string
or ribbons might be easier when it all comes down to actually installing
it. Who knows.
But I really like extending that
organic kind of feel – because even before she said that her process & her
inspiration came from those kinds of forms, I felt that. In my mind I just thought, ‘Wow everything is
just so organic & rich.’ & I want to convey that in a 3D space as
much as possible for her.
There is a small walkway above the
gallery… could we perhaps use that?
Perhaps hang ribbons off of that for more lines? & have them possibly touch the
ground? I’m not sure, but it’s an idea.
The furniture in the room HAVE to
go. They’re very dated & her work is
not [even if it does look similar to some work in the 20s & 60s; but
everything in that style is still very accessible & “modern”]. Perhaps some cheap Ikea furniture
installation should be in order?
The mini-wall idea sounds
promising. I have no idea what those
forms [like the forms of the wall] look like, but constructing smaller walls
might be fun… I don’t know how / where she would want us to put the walls, tho. Perhaps to section off areas? But that would splice the organic room into
pieces… so I’m not too sure about it now.
Splicing organic things… seems like a disruption of the flow that she’s
trying to create. I JUST WANT TO DO HER
VISION JUSTICE, OKAY. & I hope that
when I do my shows of whatever the hell I end up doing, I get the same respect
& enthusiasm from people who want to set up my things.
Whatever we decide, I’m excited. I’m looking forward to seeing such vivid
colors & curves & thickness & thinness contrasting each other. I’m very excited.
 |
obama
acrylic on wood
|
Cathy Liu’s show is on
November 3rd @ Ohlone College in the Smith Center Art Gallery from
7-8:30. Hope you can join us! If anyone is actually reading this? :/
Comments