Today we’d like to introduce you to Lishan Liu.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am a director, photographer and DJ based between China and US. My practice concentrates on creative strategies and production of images and videos for visual content distribution.
I was born and raised in southern China. After gaining a BFA degree from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, I relocated to New York City, receiving an MFA in photography, video and related media from the School of Visual Arts. Afterward, I have been living and working between US and China.
With a fine art educational background, I was first active in the contemporary art world. During my MFA, I was interested in topics like consumerism and commercial aesthetics. I appropriated the logic and texture of commercial production into my thesis work, a series of 30-second pseudo ads, that drew a commentary on notions of “attention span” and “strategy” in modern advertising. Fortunately enough, the work was selected into one of the biggest art film festivals called RENCONTRES INTERNATIONALES PARIS/BERLIN in 2019. Not long after, I was randomly offered by a designer friend this opportunity to direct a short film for his accessories brand Soft People Area. Since then, I drew some attention from the fashion industry and started to work on commissioned content with more brands. So far, I have collaborated with clients from around the world including ACNE Studios, Crocs, MO&CO, Sankuanz, Wrangler, Motoguo, Peacebird and etc.
Besides creating visual work, I am also a DJ in my spare time. I regularly play at this legendary underground club ALL and I publish mixtapes online as well. Being a DJ is part of the joy of my life.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
From what I just described, it seemed to be sort of an organic path of becoming. However, there does have some actual obstacles along the way. The biggest challenge for me would be learning to accept my imperfection and weaknesses and trying to improve by practicing more. When it comes to working, I always wanted to be perfect. Sometimes, I stopped myself from doing the work when I thought the idea was not good enough. What I wanted to do turned out never come into being. But then I realized that it’s not a healthy mindset for me. So I started to work on it and now I have become more open-minded to myself and more humble to receive suggestions and feedback from others.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a commercial director, I think I have a great balance of thoughts between myself and the clients. I am always happy to listen to and digest the opinions of clients. At the same time, I do not hesitate to offer new ideas from my perspectives. In doing so, I am trying to make it commercially work for the market without a loss of artistic expression.
Through time, I gradually develop my own style of visual language. I am good at conceptualization and come across ideas with a playful and humorous approach. I was mostly known by the industry for this Crocs X Sankuanz shoe campaign in which I was trying to emphasize on the “shoes in shoes” feature of the collaborative shoes by using iconic elements like crocodiles and their eggs in the narratives. Most excitingly, I got to direct this Acne Studios Chinese Valentine’s campaign last year. It was the very first commercial the brand produced in Asia. In this commercial, I tried to keep the idea as simple as possible. The whole film is all beautiful-looking shots from beneath the glass angle, showing abstract body movements and gestures of 2 couples. The most recent work I directed was a short film called “I LOVE MY WIFE SO MUCH” for a new hat product made by fashion brand FEYFEY Worldwide. The short film is about a man who loses his hat while he tries to pee by the road on his way back home to see his wife. A strong emotion of love is developed as soon as the hat is blown off the head of the protagonist and then it gets intensified while the hat keeps spinning with the wind in the sky. It’s really delicate but fierce at the same time. When you look at my work, you may notice some sort of clumsiness either in the storytelling or the visual language. For me, clumsiness is a representation of genuineness.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I would love to share with our readers an interesting personal project of mine. This is an ongoing project called Apts for Rent, which consists of found photos culled from the Chinese apartment listing apps including Lianjia, Beike, Anjuke and so on. The images that I collected for this project often present melancholic but romantic domestic scenes. You are welcome to take a look at these interesting found images on the Instagram account @apts_forrent
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nahsiluil/?hl=en
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nahsiluil
- Other: https://vimeo.com/user22845559
Image Credits
1. RENCONTRES INTERNATIONALES PARIS/BERLIN 2019 2. Short film “In Flux” for Soft People Area, video still 3. Crocs X Sankuanz campaign, video stills 4. Acne Studios 2022 Chinese Valentine’s Campaign, video still 5. I LOVE MY WIFE SO MUCH for FeyFey Worldwide, video still 6. Apts for Rent, Instagram account
