Liu Xiao Xian is an artist originally from China. He migrated to Australia in 1990 after the Tiananmen Square massacre.
His work focuses mainly on the contrasts between the Eastern and Western worlds. Having had a first hand insight into both cultures, Liu is able to demonstrate this contrast with great effect.
This is Liu's first ever major solo exhibition. The artwork is made up of a range of medium's. Having a background in photography, Liu has also experemented with video, ceramics, and more recently sculpture with great results.
All of Liu's work focuses on the difference of the 2 cultures. He does this with comparisons of Gods, eating utensils, games and locations. What I really enjoyed was the artwork entitled "The Way We Eat". It was a long glass cabinet that stretched aproximately 4 meters long. In the first half of the cabinet was a collection of finely sculptured ceramic cutlery, that would normally be used by a person on an daily basis in the western world, and in the other half of the cabinet layed 2 single ceramic chop-sticks, stereotypical to the eastern culture. There were so many contrasting details in this piece and i think that is what has really struck me. The amount of detail in the 'western' cutlery was something that really wasn't noticed until you had a much longer look. This fine detail also played a major role in accenting the difference between the simplicity of the chopsticks, and the much more complex 'western' eating implements.
Another artwork that i enjoyed was 'Our Gods'. This was a series of 2 prints, each measuring 3x3 meters!! Each print was an image of the face of each god, either 'Buddah' or 'Christ'. These images were quite striking. As you walked into this room the images just stopped you in your tracks and made you take in the whole picture. After a few minutes, when you had taken the full impact of the prints, you were able to have a closer inspection. What was revealed was quite amazing. Each image was made up of tiny thumbnail images of the opposing God. This was a great way of showing how religion affects people of all cultures, and how each religion overlaps within cultures, without taking away from the contrast of the two respective religions.
Liu's latest piece 'Wall of China' was quite interesting. Personally, i wasn't a huge fan of it, but i could see the significance behind it. This was a video//photography piece. It showed an alleyway that was filled with old 'china' plates that were stacked head-high, 10 meters wide, for 50 meters long. The video was taken from a person's point of view walking down the alley, crushing parts of the 'wall' on their way. This was a reflection of how china has changed in the 20 years since his departure, and how the fragile nature has been destroyed.
Although 'From East to West' wasn't an exhibition i would normally go out of my way to go and see, i did find it quite interesting, and i gained some knowledge on China that I wasn't previously aware of.
Image taken from photoimaging
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