Alfred Liu is a Melbourne-based artist. Growing up in China, Alfred found himself between two worlds when he moved to Australia at age seven. Unable to speak much English, he sought refuge in his imagination and the worlds he created. His work depicts his love for Australia, the nostalgia of China, and the escapism of science fiction and fantasy. We spoke to Alfred about his favourite games and stories, the characters in his work and how his style has evolved since his last show.
You had your first show with us in January How has your art developed in that time? It's been moving along steadily, although I always wish I could improve faster. I have been trying some different techniques to make things look more finished and have more substance.
I also wanted to add themes and subject matter from stories that I enjoy and listen to often. I hope people will like the new works! You've shared some explorations into colour, pixel art, and monochromatic rendering, amongst other things. What have you learnt over the past year and how has it fed into your art practice? What else would you like to explore? Sometimes I practice a technique and it ends up not actually being used in my work, so I tried to make an effort this past year to actually put to use what I've practised.
One of the big things was including value range in my work, using darker colours to make certain areas pop out. I've also been really enjoying pencil work.
Hopefully I can do more of that in the future. I hope to also find some more time to make something interactive, like a mini-game, for an exhibition. One of my biggest dreams is to create an interactive experience for people in a gallery setting, to make it more fun. Also, the idea of creating a few 3D works is pretty cool. We have been seeing more of these dark ghost-like creatures with tentacles in your recent works.
