Zhenshuai Liu, an assistant professor at the Defense Language Institute, is acting as the ambassador for his father’s traditional paper-cutting folk art, now appearing at the Museum of Monterey in a show called A Dream in Red. They are dense but light works of symbology, layers and layers of it, and representations of rural life in China, made from single sheets of red paper cut with intricate detail.
The artist’s bio reads: “You may see a running horse in a big apple. It means ‘to pursue your success in peace and safety’ because in Chinese language, coincidently, apple shares the same pronunciation with peace and safety, and in Chinese culture, horse represents success.”
Liu’s eager about the perspective the show provides. “A lot of people’s impression of China are Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong,” he says. “But 80 percent of Chinese remain in rural areas.”
That’s where his father, Tianxi, hails from, and still lives. Liu says he depicts Chinese rural values, farming scenes, harvest season, mythology and polytheistic religions that are phased out of Chinese city life.
“You will see a totally different China portrayed,” Liu says.
The Chinese art soaking up all the attention in the States now, though, is by dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who recently collaborated on an installation inside San Francisco’s Alcatraz prison. The subject: freedom and imprisonment.
“Those artists holding criticism will be easily welcome in the States,” Liu says. “Actually, you can also see China from another angle. Though there are lots of shortcomings in every system, not every Chinese person is living in misery.”
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