Yousha Liu
Yousha Liu (born 1960), is a female painter from Huangyan, Zhejiang, China. She graduated with a BFA from China Academy of Art in 1982 and is now a member of the China Artists Association and a director of China Hue Art Association. She Achieved an MFA degree from Georgia Southern University. She won the bronze medal on the "Sixth National Art Show of 1984", the third prize on the "China Hue Art Society Exhibition", and was nominated for the Kingston Prize for "Contemporary Canadian Portraiture" in both 2005 and 2007. In 2007, she entered the second place on the Eighth Oakville Art Show at Town of Oakville, and in 2009 her work was awarded in the Ninth Oakville Art Show. Among her artworks, "Harvest Season", "An Invitation", "As Time Goes By", and "James Dubro Sleeping in His Book World" are the more celebrated.
Introduction
Yousha was born in a well-disciplined family that practiced Chinese traditional medicine in Taizhou, Zhejiang. Both of her parents were doctors. Though it was the time of Cultural Revolution, the seclusion of the Greater Chen Island where they were living and the social turmoil did not sway the parents' faith in their daughters' education. They painted, sang, and played musical instruments, immersing themselves in domestic happiness after school and work. After the College Entrance Exam was reinstated in 1977, all three Liu sisters were accepted into universities. The eldest sister went to University of Xiamen, the elder sister Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, and Yousha was accepted by Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. At the time, they were recognized as the "three elites" in Taizhou.
Yousha took a special liking towards painting since childhood. She was taught by her father's classmate, Wenbing Jiang, and later by Cangmi Zhou in her teenage years. After being admitted into Faculty of Chinese Painting in Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, she studied under various artists including Shengyue Gu, Zhongyuan Song, Shanming Wu, Bomin Wang, Kunfeng Lu, Zhongqi Kong, Zhongtao Tong, etc. After that, she also sought instruction from elder masters such as Yanshao Lu and Mi Zeng.
Exhibitions
1984 - The 6th National Art Exhibition of China, where she won the bronze medal
1986 - "Beyond the Open Door" Chinese art tour in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Huston
1988 - "New Artists and New Work" Solo Exhibition at the National Art Museum of China
1998 - The "Image '98 -- 124th Annual Open Juried Exhibition of the Ontario Society of Artists in Toronto
1999 - Two Artists Show at Gallery Arcturus, Toronto
2005, 2007 - Finalist for the Kingston Prize of Contemporary Canadian Portraiture
2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 - 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd Annual Juried Show of Fine Arts, Mississauga Art Gallery
2007 - 2n prize at Artworks Oakville, 8th Annual Juried Show, Oakville City Hall
2009 - Honorable mention at Artworks Oakville 9th Annual Juried Show
2010 - Solo Show at the Campbell House Museum in Toronto
2012 - Collaborated Exhibition at Eart Gallery, Toronto
2013 - North American Contemporary Art Show, Toronto
2014 - "An Invitation" Solo Art Show in Beijing 798
2015 - Contemporary Art Show of Asia, Hong Kong
Awards
Bronze medal in the 6th National Art Exhibition of China
3rd prize on China Hue Art Association Exhibition
2005, 2007 - Finalist for the Kingston Prize of Contemporary Canadian Portraiture
2007 - 2nd prize in the Artworks Oakville, 8th Annual Juried Show
2009 - Honorable mention at Artworks Oakville 9th Annual Juried Show
Artistic Achievements
After Yousha Liu graduated from Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1982, she worked at Hunan Mass Art Centre. During her post there, she had the chance to visit Miao, Dong, Yao and other remote ethnic groups in western Hunan, paying special attention to the primitive land and traditions beyond the mountains. The mountains and waters, goats and bulls, men and women were so different from those in her birthplace, yet they revealed a whole new world that was familiar to the one she already knew. Three years later, she left Hunan with a haunting image of those lonely mountains. The passion ignited then spurred her artistic inspiration. And with unmatched talent, she managed to create a style unique in the art of painting.
In her early figure paintings, Yousha presented her unique style with freshness. She was accustomed to using simple strokes at first to reveal the image slowly and evenly, her passion burning in stillness. Painters of traditional figure painting often pay special attention to the change of planes, showing strength in the lines. But Yousha broke the rule by deliberately separating those that were supposedly joined, making the lines so smooth they give way to an overall rhythm that contributes to the tension in composition. The ingenious composition brings about new forms and images. The choice of images, the outlines of forms, and the subtle difference between objects and scenery bring to life an inner rhythm and a poetic depth to the seeming simplicity of her paintings.
An innovative painter offers the audience a whole new process of appreciation, and this is what Yousha did. Her new style of ink and water painting went beyond the standards set by former contributors, broadened the modes of expression, and enriched the techniques and artistic atmosphere of Chinese paintings. With all those contributions, she made her debut in the 6th/7th National Art Exhibition in China and gained considerable success in the China Hue Art Association Exhibition.
In her later works, Yousha infused in her art the talent and experience unique to her alone. She adopted a modern form and composition while keeping her perseverance firmly rooted. In between the ink and lines, reality and non-reality, no longer distinguishable from each other, have mingled into a whole. Consciousness and unconsciousness, no longer an implication, have been visualized into choices in her pictorial syntax. Imagination, no longer a personal contemplation, has been transformed into a sense of certainty and care for the human world. --These together made Yousha Liu unique.
"It was good taste, correct judgment, and persistent pursuit that empowered her to extract the essence of painting. This is what makes a real artist. Almost all masters in art share this same experience."—As commented by Mi Zeng, artist and critic, "the same image and effect, ever so obscure to most, are precisely captured by others, who then shaped them diligently into a new form of art."
Through her work, Yousha Liu has integrated art from the east and the west. She devised a new mode of art for Chinese figure painting, and expressed feelings using oil on canvas through a realistic touch. Her themes are mostly related to the kinds of bewilderment that traps self, such as issues on politics, race, environment and ecosystem, etc.
Through many years, Yousha Liu strived to refine her art. After achieving considerable applause through traditional Chinese figure painting, she went to the U.S. and obtained a MFA degree from Georgia Southern University in 2001.
Her oil paintings have merged the Zen in Chinese literati paintings, poetic rhythms, and literary grandeur in one. In addition, she also employed magical realism, stream of consciousness, and surrealism in her painting. Among all other artists, she was influenced the most by Margaret and Chagall.
Yousha Liu was best at relating objects and imageries that are seemingly unrelated, in an attempt to create meaning and investigate the hidden message. Such investigation has become a recurring theme in her oil paintings, where she leaves thoughts in the audience by bringing together distinct imageries. The audience's participation and imaginations then complete the process by delivering an ethereal sense of mystery.
Yousha expressed her reverence towards nature through a serious attitude and careful brushstrokes. In her eyes, ordinary objects are all transformed into self-expressive imageries. What she has presented to us are images full of surreal beauty. This process of transformation of realistic objects into imageries marked her entry into a free artistic world that is both modern and traditional, realistic and futuristic, eastern and western.
Collection
Yousha Liu's artworks are in both public and private collections around the world. These include National Art Museum of China, The Foundation for the Study of Objective Art, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro City Hall in Georgia, Eart Gallery, East Asian Artists Foundation, and by the late philanthropist, Paul Nelson.
Artworks
Harvest Season, ink and colour on silk, 2013
An Invitation, oil on canvas, 2007 Oakville Art Show 2nd prize
James Dubro Sleeping in His Book World, oil on canvas, 2005 Kingston Prize for Contemporary Canadian Portraiture
Hair by Hair, oil on canvas, 2007 Kingston Prize for Contemporary Canadian Portraiture
A Promise, oil on canvas, 2003
As Time Goes By, ink and colour on silk, 2013