Linda Liao was born in 1962 into an engineers’ family in Nanning city of the Guangxi Autonomous Region of China. Growing up in the countryside of this region during the Cultural Revolution, she turns to drawing and painting for refuge.
In 1987, Linda moves to Melbourne, Australia, where she takes drawing courses at a local art school and studies oil painting with a local artist. Later on, in 1994, she travels to Europe to continue her fine arts training by studying the master pieces in Europe’s many museums and by extensively visiting galleries. She also has been continuously reading extensively in literature, art history, philosophy, contemporary art movements, appreciating music and contemporary dance.
In 1995, Linda arrives in Hong Kong and after another short stint in Sydney settles down in this vibrant city with her French husband with whom she now has two sons.
Linda has been active as a fulltime artist since 2003. In 2006, her dream comes true when she is able to move into her painting studio in Wan Chai where she also conducts a life drawing workshop on Tuesday evenings.
ARTIST STATEMENT
“Humans create art, art nurtures mankind”.
I have been searching through daily life and by travelling the world to deepen my understanding of humanity and the wide spectrum of cultural phenomena of the world. As a dedicated artist who embraces the ever changing world with a positive attitude and a creative mind, I am determined to explore and discover new forms of paintings with innovative techniques and original forms of composition. My artworks are mostly reflecting the human feelings and emotions, rendering from lives that they lead that shapes and forms their physics, minds and souls, which as well have been shaped and influenced by the energy and mass floating in the universe.
My recent paintings contemplate the human conditions via semi-figurative and abstract representations in vivid colour. Drawing upon the conventions of traditional figurative paintings, my signature impasto technique submerges iconic and symbolic human forms into a sea of bold monochromatic fields whose intensity, upon initial viewing, nearly drown the subject completely, only then to find a glowing narrative illuminated beneath the shimmering surface of each piece. Through subtle references and playful irony, I simultaneously question and celebrate the confluences of body, mind, soul, psychology, sex, political and social issues, and mass culture at large.
It is of great interest of mine to explore materials from the organic realm to current innovations in chemical materials, ranging from ceramics, sand, pasto and other natural materials to acrylics colours and industrial acrylics. Material and techniques are playing some substantial rolls in reflecting the meaning of my paintings.
1962
born in Nanning (Guangxi), China.
1962 – 1987
Spent childhood and youth during the Cultural Revolution:” red school” and high school where she did her self-taught in art and painting
1987
Went to Australia to study language, business, nursing and painting
1994
Travelled around Europe for one year, visited many many museums and galleries
1995
Settled herself in Hong Kong. She was joined by her French boyfriend; they got married with two sons
2004
Has moved into her painting studio in wan chai, hong kong
Solo Exhibitions
2004
Zheng Moo Gallery, Guangzhou, China,
2006
Kapok, Hong Kong, China
2007
East-by-East Gallery, Paris. France
Group Exhibitions
2004
Sea Ranch, Lantou Island, Hong Kong, China.
2006
Group Exhibition from 14th to 17th September:
“A new look at Contemporary Art in China”, East-by-east-gallery at Espace Commines, 17 rue Commines, 75003, Paris, France.
2007
Koru Gallery, Hong Kong
2008
Art Portfolio, Artzone, Kyoto, Japan www.artzone.jp/jp/artportfolio2008/
