PORTFOLIO & STATEMENT

Since my first high school biology class, I have been fascinated by the patterns, systems, and processes of the natural world. However, I grow increasingly troubled by our disregard for the fragility of that world, manifest in transformation from land into landfill, from lush into barren. In my work, I find myself compelled to imagine a reversal of this fall—a restoration and resurrection.

Toward this end, I deliberately choose humble materials—papers, tapes, threads, wire, cloth—and a simple markmaking style. Through recycling and (re)arrangement, I attempt to breathe a second life into these materials. The works become a warning, a lamentation, a confession, a memorial, a longing and a prayer.

In this contrast between material and form, I look to facilitate a mindfulness and dialogue about the transience and fragility of life and our profound interdependence with the natural environment. I seek to inspire the participant to look more closely. I aim to evoke a certain humility when reflecting on the immense power of the smallest, most delicate and vulnerable threads that connect us.

In my current body of work, entitled “Milk and Honey,” I feature several mounds of handmade honeycomb and drawn-and-cut grass patches. My intention is to grow a sense of longing—as both nostalgia and vision—in a post-apocalyptic time where the natural world is no longer part of our direct experience but must be re-constructed.

—Anli Liu 2007