Existence

作品賞析

In this painting, a calm sea shimmers, and a pink plastic bag floating in the air above like a cloud draws the eye. The light penetrating through the bag also tints the sea below it pink. This seemingly tranquil scene hides a sense of something not quite right: the waves on the sea seem to have a thin layer of cellophane over them. They, too, are like the airborne plastic bag. Liu Chia Wei often uses packaging material as a subject for his artworks. He believes that “packaging material” not only has the practical functions of protection, preservation, and beautification, but also has a strong materiality, so that it can be deconstructed and transformed into “artificial landscapes.” Existence is thus a fusion of surreal and realist styles. The oil painting depicts what looks like the sea but is not the sea, and what looks like a cloud is not a cloud. It explores the relationship between man-made objects and nature.