Born in Beijing in 1967, Liu earned a degree in oil painting
from the Capital Normal University of Beijing in 1991 and has
exhibited in and won awards in many prestigious exhibitions throughout
Asia, including China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan.
In "Silkworm," a raven-haired woman, delicately swathed in a
loose, ivory-colored silk garment and a long, brilliant vermilion
swag, closes her eyes toward an unseen light , one arm draped
over what appears to be an old stone pillar, the other clutching
her exposed knee. She, in fact, resembles a precious silkworm
encased in its soft cocoon, retreating from the harshness of the
outside world. A dark sultriness permeates the scene, with its
muted backdrop of bare, brushed wall that graduates from black
to dripping red, suggesting that the young woman has been engaged
in at least mental reverie and is now dreamily spent after what
the French lyrically refer to as le petit morte or "little death,"
that also refers to a spiritual release or a short period of transcendence.
While Liu Yuanshou hails from the austere north of China, he has
become fascinated by the seductively temperate cultural and physical
climate of the eastern coastal province of Jiangsu, which lies
east of Anhui and north of Shanghai. Silkworm culture is and always
has been an important part of Jiangsu's history, as is the production
of silk textiles. Perhaps because of this, silk is especially
evident in Liu's art, which primarily focuses on portraits of
young women from the Jiangsu region. The artist is known for dressing
his sultry subjects in Shanghai period or modern-day regional
attire, as well as for integrating well-researched architectural
elements and interiors from Jiangsu's urban and rural areas. According
to Liu Yuanshou, by joining these two elements, he achieves "an
ancient look of bygone nostalgia," one that conveys a sense of
the profound beauty and historical longevity of China's cultural
past, which he fears is being lost in today's frenetic technologically-oriented
society.
