ARTISTS
Liu Yin: Summer
Kiang Malingue is pleased to present at its Hong Kong headquarters 鈥淪ummer鈥�, an exhibition of recent paintings and works on paper by Liu Yin. The exhibition continues the artist鈥檚 exploration of nature that began with her 2023 exhibition 鈥淪pring鈥�, revealing gentle and surging emotions in flowers, trees, fruits, seas and rocks.
More than a dozen paintings on view at Kiang Malingue鈥檚 Sik On Street space are organized into three chapters. In the first series of paintings, one sees a number of fruit-figures floating and frolicking in the waters: works such as River #1 (2025) reflect the artist鈥檚 interest in small bodies of water, such as rivers and streams, where traces of life remain and constantly redefine the environment in which they are left鈥攖he natural elements found in the waters interact with one another, adding another lively layer to the complex ecosystem of the flowing waters. In these paintings, Liu continues to paint adorable sh艒jo manga faces over flowers, leaves, and fruits, turning them into sentient, sensitive beings. They are unapologetically emotional in the network of affect they form with the environments, guiding the viewer鈥檚 gaze through compositions that deal with bodily concerns and expressiveness. Another work in this chapter, Summer (2025), actively draws the viewer鈥檚 body into a verdant landscape where joyful flowers emerge from a deep labyrinth of branches and leaves.
The large-scale painting Night Scene (2025), on view in the second part of the exhibition, depicts a peach tree at night. Most of the tree鈥檚 branches are hidden in the dark, while the large fruits are totally shrouded in bright light. Informed by Suzuki Harunobu鈥檚 ukiyo-e, Liu replaces Suzuki鈥檚 figures strolling in gardens with peaches that give solemn and thoughtful looks. Occupying the white cube space, Blue Moon (2025) is based on a watercolor created by Liu in 2023, which depicts a loving moon resting above a pond of water lilies. A water lily in the pond turns its face away, reluctant to embrace the moon鈥檚 cool yet tender light. The two works in this chapter focus on non-human beings who reveal their loneliness at night, externalising a mental process through which connected and contradictory feelings reconcile with one another.
The two diptychs on the third floor of the Sik On Street space tell the most intense narratives. Waves (2024-2025) features looming huge waves with many faces鈥攁 reminder of the inseparable nature of non-human spirits from their environments, and a celebration of the radical potential of emotions to multiply and reinforce themselves. Another large-scale painting, Rocks (2025), also depicts a magnificent seascape, this time focusing on a pair of formidable rocks in the sea. These majestic guardians, tenacious and reticent, could be working with or against the water spirits in Waves, and forms an immediate connection with the viewer by projecting their unwavering gazes forward. Pertaining to confrontation, struggle, alliance, and kinship鈥攖he swirl in the foreground of the painting, once again informed by iconic ukiyo-e imagery, is Liu鈥檚 symbol of intense emotion鈥攖he paintings highlight the significance of emotivity and unfaltering resistance.
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Kiang Malingue is pleased to present at its Hong Kong headquarters 鈥淪ummer鈥�, an exhibition of recent paintings and works on paper by Liu Yin. The exhibition continues the artist鈥檚 exploration of nature that began with her 2023 exhibition 鈥淪pring鈥�, revealing gentle and surging emotions in flowers, trees, fruits, seas and rocks.
More than a dozen paintings on view at Kiang Malingue鈥檚 Sik On Street space are organized into three chapters. In the first series of paintings, one sees a number of fruit-figures floating and frolicking in the waters: works such as River #1 (2025) reflect the artist鈥檚 interest in small bodies of water, such as rivers and streams, where traces of life remain and constantly redefine the environment in which they are left鈥攖he natural elements found in the waters interact with one another, adding another lively layer to the complex ecosystem of the flowing waters. In these paintings, Liu continues to paint adorable sh艒jo manga faces over flowers, leaves, and fruits, turning them into sentient, sensitive beings. They are unapologetically emotional in the network of affect they form with the environments, guiding the viewer鈥檚 gaze through compositions that deal with bodily concerns and expressiveness. Another work in this chapter, Summer (2025), actively draws the viewer鈥檚 body into a verdant landscape where joyful flowers emerge from a deep labyrinth of branches and leaves.
The large-scale painting Night Scene (2025), on view in the second part of the exhibition, depicts a peach tree at night. Most of the tree鈥檚 branches are hidden in the dark, while the large fruits are totally shrouded in bright light. Informed by Suzuki Harunobu鈥檚 ukiyo-e, Liu replaces Suzuki鈥檚 figures strolling in gardens with peaches that give solemn and thoughtful looks. Occupying the white cube space, Blue Moon (2025) is based on a watercolor created by Liu in 2023, which depicts a loving moon resting above a pond of water lilies. A water lily in the pond turns its face away, reluctant to embrace the moon鈥檚 cool yet tender light. The two works in this chapter focus on non-human beings who reveal their loneliness at night, externalising a mental process through which connected and contradictory feelings reconcile with one another.
The two diptychs on the third floor of the Sik On Street space tell the most intense narratives. Waves (2024-2025) features looming huge waves with many faces鈥攁 reminder of the inseparable nature of non-human spirits from their environments, and a celebration of the radical potential of emotions to multiply and reinforce themselves. Another large-scale painting, Rocks (2025), also depicts a magnificent seascape, this time focusing on a pair of formidable rocks in the sea. These majestic guardians, tenacious and reticent, could be working with or against the water spirits in Waves, and forms an immediate connection with the viewer by projecting their unwavering gazes forward. Pertaining to confrontation, struggle, alliance, and kinship鈥攖he swirl in the foreground of the painting, once again informed by iconic ukiyo-e imagery, is Liu鈥檚 symbol of intense emotion鈥攖he paintings highlight the significance of emotivity and unfaltering resistance.
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