Today we’d like to introduce you to Congyu Liu.
Hi Congyu, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey as a photographer and artist began in China. More specifically, it was sparked during my high school years when I was given the opportunity to create and direct high school films. I was interested in moving images and drama, having taught myself various related skills such as the basics of photography, the creation of scripts and costumes, editing, and poster design. Despite my parents’ wishes for me to pursue a different path, I was determined to pursue the arts. I attended the University of Melbourne in Australia to study art with a double major in Media & Communication and Screen (Film) & Culture studies. Although I enjoyed learning and analyzing others’ work, I did not feel fulfilled and wanted to create my own expressive art. After college, I decided to take a gap year and worked at IOAM museum and Bazaarman China to hone my portfolio. Which brings me to the present day, where I am currently pursuing a Masters of Fine Art in Photography at the California Institute of the Arts. My practice includes photography, film, and video projection installation, and my work focuses on oppression within domestic spaces and workplaces and the male and female gaze in a patriarchal society.
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?
It truly has not been a smooth road for me to pursue art. There are many struggles I have had to face, and gender inequality is the most notable struggle that I still face. In the Chinese traditional family structure, girls are expected to return to married family life and be supportive as partners.
Witnessing the talented group of female artists I grew up with being persuaded to follow the plans their parents made for them makes me sad. I knew since I was a child that as a girl, you always need to fight for whatever you want, including your career and visibility.
As a female artist, I always need to prove myself when my skills are questioned. That’s how I decided to use my work to speak for the silence of my gender group in a patriarchal society.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
As an Asian woman, my work mainly focuses on exploring the oppression of women in different spaces and different roles. My work articulates the existence of the Male Gaze in life and art history. In my photography work Palace, I utilized the camera as the sight of a voyeur and shot images of women gazing at the camera and at men — thereby mocking the gaze of male voyeurism. I reversed the male and female positions in early Western oil paintings by reconstructing the paintings in real life in a Chinese context by changing the entire aesthetic including: costumes, location, and makeup. I then photographed the resulting reversed figures in order to provide a new perspective of looking. Palace not only refers to the imperial palace but also indicates the finest place of art, like art galleries and museums. It is inspired by a traditional Chinese idiom, “女人不可登大雅之堂” (A woman should not enter the main hall).
My immersive video projection works illustrate the experiences of marginalized women and their living situations. The Fish on the Chopping Board was in reference to an idiom that describes people who don’t have a choice. It echoes the status of women’s existence in a domestic space and calls for a feminist response. I filmed red fish having their heads chopped off and black fish struggling to stay in the tank. This is a reference to women my mother’s age who submit to their living status and to their daughters in the next generation. I projected on the fish tank to emphasize them being trapped.
In my piece English Level, using the front window of a car as a projection surface, the audience is encouraged to sit inside the car and watch the moving images to exaggerate the isolation of the space, which illustrates what is lost in translation. The work speaks for the last generation of women with no access to higher education and had no choice but to surrender from this feminist combat.
As an artist, I disrupt the dominant narratives and power structures through an Asian lens by using the media to speak for the historically silenced, oppressed, and marginalized voices. I believe that presenting the images of the silenced is a way for them to speak.
What matters most to you? Why?
Becoming a photographer and artist excited me because I could use my work to speak to larger audiences. In the future, I hope my art practice will push for the awakening of more marginalized women to engage with their oppression and to speak for themselves. I grew up seeing an older generation of women giving up and settling within their domestic roles. In continuing to focus my practice towards the Asian diaspora of women, I hope to highlight more of their struggles and make enough noise to lead to our emancipation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.congyuliu.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/uil__eoz?igshid=NGVhN2U2NjQ0Yg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
