Arrested Identity, a solo exhibition by artist Xiao Lu Liu, on view from January 13 through February 10. Opening reception on Saturday, January 13 from 7-10 p.m.
Presented by Ro2 Art, 'Arrested Identity' is the first solo exhibition by artist Xiao Lu Liu. It explores the often untold struggle of identity forming in a toxic socio-cultural environment. The artist presents original prints with characters in impossible, mysterious, and absurd situations revealing the emotional and spiritual suffering of their disconnection from a genuine, authentic self. Symbols, analogies, and satire are used by Liu to guide the viewer through the narratives while leaving room open to interpretation. The works create ever-shifting dynamics between the recognizable and the unseen, and between conviction and reality. It challenges the viewers to ponder their own forming of identities.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Executed in traditional printmaking processes, these images generate an aura of both familiarity and other worldliness. They act as lenses through which everyday encounters and existences are altered in meaningful and surrealistic ways. Victims of their glorified false identities are given the stage, and pivotal moments of good-intention-turn-tragedy are depicted. The struggle of identity forming provides a constant inspiration. Surrealist scenes and inventions are constructed for metaphor and meaning rather than only for novelty's sake.
Elements from Chinese traditional and modern culture are used as symbols and codes that are crucial in comprehensive delivery of the narratives. Certain established beliefs about childhood and the process of identity construction are challenged, leading to a deeper look into the complexity of human psychology. Further philosophical questions about human identity and human emotional and spiritual needs may be resolved through art making in Xiao Lu Liu's attempt to explore our conscious connection (and lack lack thereof) with the many essential components that make up what it means to be human.
ARTIST BIO:
Xiao Lu Liu is an emerging artist in Texas. Her works explore the question of identity in the context of contemporary Chinese culture with an awareness of its long historical background. They are allegorical and satirical in nature. Among her influences are Hieronymus Bosch, Erick Thor Sandberg, Kathryn Polk, and Tom Huck.
Xiao Lu Liu commonly works with multiple-plate etching, lithography, and screen print on cotton paper, and she increasingly experiments with watercolor, acrylic and oil painting as well.
Liu was born in China and grew up there in the 90s and early 2000s. After high school she moved to the U.S. with her family. She graduated with a BFA from University of North Texas in 2017. Her works have been shown at Ro2 Art in Dallas, Brick Haus Collective in Denton, and featured in a Juried exhibitions at Art Space 111 in Fort Worth, and The Texas National Competition & Exhibition in 2017 with juror Benito Huerta.
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