10 Chancery Lane Gallery is happy to present the new works of Hung Liu with her series entitled Za Zhong (Bastard Paintings).  The series of mixed media works are composed of many alternating layers of resin and oil-based pigment and present layers of imagery and painting in a glass-like resin finish that allows a greater vibrancy of colors to her paintings.
 
Liu has always delved into social, political, historical aspects of China's past regimes as "subject" for her works, using old photographs as source material.  As a bi-cultural citizen, she is in a position to re-present and re-examine Chinese culture, past and present, while combining images from her own life experience.  In her new works, Liu conveys the courage and strength of women.
 
Hung Liu invented this new approach to making works with master printer, David Salgado five years ago, creating a revolutionary visual language.  The Za Zhongs are hybrids of the painting and printmaking processes. "Za Zhong" translates to English as hybrids, uncertain of their origins, or "Bastard Paintings."
 
Several works include an image of a beguiling young girl's face, each juxtaposed with a different array of Chinese historical images and painting motifs, as well as Liu's signature washes, drips, and her characteristic circles -- as spots of color throughout the composition and symbolic of the universe in Chinese iconography.  The "Za Zhongs" with faces are related in sharing a "starter" image.  Thereafter the pieces digress, and each takes on a life of its own.  Glen Helfand quotes the artist in his catalogue essay: "Liu likens the process to collaborating with herself in a Za Zhong-like manner: The base image is the melody -- the improvisation occurs on top of that."
 
In a traditional print, all the layers (of whatever the media) are on top of one another.  In Liu's Za Zhong pieces, each mounted in a wooden box; the layers are separated by 1/8 inch of resin.  These works begin with a digital base image taken from the artist's own oeuvre, an iris print that is then coated with wax in the areas the artist wants to retain.  The rest of the image is washed away with water.  This allows Liu to redraw her image, alter it, and transform it from the original painting source, setting the stage for the subsequent layers of cast resin, painting (in oil or in ink), collage elements from historical sources or from the artist's own paintings.
 
Opening reception on October 7 (Thurs), 2010 at 6:30 - 8:30pm.