Echo Climate

An exhibition of interdisciplinary art practice to explore the impacts of biodiversity, environment, and humanity. Works by Brenda Louie and Qinqin Liu.

Gallery

Exibition Dates: February 20, 2023 - March 16, 2023

Artist Statement

Brenda Louie

Brenda Louie’s “Water Series” is inspired by the concept of the essential quality of water that it goes beyond dignity and justice, it is spiritual…

Louie’s work traces the creative development of one of the most exciting Asian-American artists working today. Over the course of serval decades, Louie has merged the aesthetic principles of traditional Chinese culture with the experiment of post-war art, arriving at cutting-edge approaches to painting that speak to diverse audiences.

Louie’s work has been exhibited throughout the United States, China and Middle East including in Crocker Art Museum, Monterey Art Museum, Oceanside Art Museum, California, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou, P.R. China, Farhat Art Museum, Lebanon,

Louie holds a Master of Arts in Painting from California State University in Sacramento in 1991 and a Master of Fine Arts from Stanford University in Visual Arts in 1993. She was a member of art faculty at the Art Department, CSUS, from 1996 to 2019.

The second edition of Brenda Louie’s monograph, “Moving from Zero”, with essays by six esteemed scholars whose diverse backgrounds speak to the universal appeal of her work and the veritable internationalism of contemporary art in general. “Moving from Zero” will be available for purchase in Summer 2023, for more information, please visit: www.brendalouie.com, brendalouie.wordpress.com or contact Brenda Louie at: blouie@csus.edu.

Qinqin Liu, Ph.D.

Qinqin Liu is an accomplished interdisciplinary artist and scientist with a Ph. D in botany and ecology study. Connecting humanity's heart, mind, and soul to nature and environments is her life’s journey. She has a long-term passion for the interplay of art and environments, especially with deep concerns about the changing climate on our mother earth. Her art practice includes drawing, Chinese ink, watercolor, and mixed media collage with rice paper and natural objects (http://www.drqliu-artscience.com/). Integrating Chinese calligraphy, culture, and design elements into Western art styles and connecting art and nature with humanity contribute to the unique character of her contemporary artworks.

These artworks have been selected for exhibitions in the National Science Museum in Taipei, California Art Center Museum, Crocker Art Museum, and universities in Asia, and the US. Her artworks have been collected in the US, Asia, and Europe. Her art projects foster conversations for art-science collaboration and creative activism for urgent climate actions in California, New York, Oregon, Europe and Asia coastal regions.

This exhibition, Echo Climate is an extension of her living climate art projects addressing deep time, sustainability, risk of drought and fire, and global actions, including examples as “Climate Color Spheres I, II, III”, “Vulnerability Window”, “Sun, Earth, and Climate.” and international publications.

Join us in the Hinde Auditorium on reception night, Thursday, February 23, from 5:00–6:00 pm for an artist lecutre.

Brenda Louie, studio art professor and mixed media installation artist, and Dr. Qinqin Liu, scientist and artist will present a public lecture as a part of their jointed art exhibition at the University Union Gallery.

Professor Louie will discuss her paintings on canvas, Water Essential Series, which began as a response to the 2012 CSUS campuswide project, One World Initiative theme of water. Water Essential Series has become Louie’s primary visual investigation in her work in more than ten years. The depth of this visual investigation led her to a deeper understanding of our relationship with water that goes beyond the survival of our body, beyond dignity and justice, it is spiritual…The scale of each of these paintings from the Water Essential Series ranged from 9 x 6 feet to 9 x 54 feet. Professor Louie will discuss her studio and research practices as well as her painting process during her lecture.

Dr. Liu will share her long-term passion and experience with the interplay of art and ecology, especially her deep concerns about the changing climate on mother earth. She will show her publications and interdisciplinary artworks that are informed by critical issues of climate, watersheds, endangered species, and biodiversity to help the audience better understand the comprehensive scientific research in these areas. She will also share her art-science journey from China to the US, and the emotional art expression of her countryside experience adapting to the crisis of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. She will explain examples of her works as living projects addressing deep time, sustainability, climate risks of water, drought, fire, biodiversity, and global actions. These works include “Climate Color Spheres I, II, III”, “Vulnerability Window”, “Endangered”, “Climate Extremes”, “Changing Life cycle”, “Watersheds”, “My Footprint”, “Sun, Earth, and Climate.” and international publications.