yang liu - Meandering
Painting
I was born and raised in Changchun in Northeast China. I feel deeply attached to my Chinese cultural, intellectual, and artistic values, as well as my perceptions from a woman’s viewpoint. The calligraphy I studied in China while growing up is firmly embedded in my artistic self. But I am also a Canadian citizen living in Montreal, a cosmopolitan Western city. I feel like a tree that branches out both above and below the ground. Below ground my Chinese roots are firmly entrenched fixed in the solid soil. Above ground my branches are Western concepts and values buffeted by the wind that through the trunk of the tree shake the roots underneath. Montreal is a city where multiculturalism is ever‐present. My paintings visualize this spiritual rooted tree. They visualize the interaction between the branches above ground and the roots below ground, between the multicultural forces above ground, and my Chinese roots under ground.