Unlike most artists, Liu Jianhua's starting point lies in the traditions he embraced in his youth, and for much of his creative career, he has devoted himself to exploring the medium of ceramics. He shares a natural and intimate affinity with clay, temperature, nature, and tradition.

For this reason, we have selected several pivotal works from different periods of Liu Jianhua's artistic career to present the artist's retrospective reflections and transformations over the decades. As the opening chapter, "Forms of Trace" broadly indexes the complex and multi-directional anchors of Liu Jianhua's practice. It resembles a richly evocative, two-way lexicon—on one side, the traces of history and reality that have remained in Liu's works; on the other, the vital significance of perception and spirit within his artistic output.

Text by Cui Cancan

November 16, 2024