Visage II

Born and raised in China, Hung Liu witnessed her father's imprisonment by the Communists, along with the Cultural Revolution of 1966-76. She came to the U.S. in 1984 to attend the University of California, San Diego where she earned an a MFA degree. On returning to China in 1990 she discovered a trove of photographs of young Chinese prostitutes. Reflecting on what struck her about the images, she has said, "Westerners brought cameras to China...the Chinese male photographers internalized this Western male gaze, and turned their cameras on their own women." These photographs became source material for a series of large portraits such as "Visage II." Liu surrounded the face with traditional Chinese blossoms, ghostly branches and rivulets of paint, simultaneously revealing and concealing the woman. Her method coupled with the haunting image from China's past, suggests cultural memory and the way it is retold by those reflecting on it from a distance.