Beyond Chaos

Godwin Liu (b. 1974, China) is a contemporary artist known for his psychologically charged oil paintings, prints, and sculptures that explore chaos, perception, and the spiritual self. His works blend surrealism and symbolic abstraction into a visual language that traverses the boundary between reality and imagination. Over the past decade, Liu has exhibited widely across China and Europe, with Beyond Chaos marking his debut solo show in Singapore.

Accolades and Recognition

Liu’s creations are infused with dreamlike, surrealist elements. Through the use of fables and allegories, his works ultimately seek to present truths about the human experience. The elf-like figures and surreal scenes are the signature of Liu’s works. Through his compositions that are magical and mysterious, Liu continues to move his viewers with his sincerity and boundless imagination. He has presented solo exhibitions at Beijing Today Art Museum, 798 Zero Space, 798 Yang Gallery, DHW Art Museum Beijing, Shenzhen Jupiter Art Museum, and Pure Stone Art Museum, to name a few. At the same time, Liu’s works have been presented at exhibitions in France, Canada, the United States, Japan, South Korea and other countries, as well as international art fairs.

Unique Art Creation Language

The silk-like swirls in his work seem to mirror the web of life. Collectively, they create an illuminating image, like a placenta gently enveloping life and giving it vitality and nourishment. When experiencing Liu’s work, one can’t help but be reminded: Life is exactly the way he expresses it – filled with paradoxes.

Art Critic Jia Fangzhou’s Comment on Liu Guoyi

Godwin Liu wants to describe not only the evil spirits and demons and monsters, but also the feasting and revelry and the life of dreams. He has been obsessed with painting, and to say what he wants to say via painting. Therefore, his paintings have a strong sense of narration, each one intending to tell a story. Since he has again and again experienced the subtle complexity of human nature, the human desires and evil thoughts, the entanglements, pains, struggling, despair and expectations as an individual, his paintings are both empirical and transcendental. In addition, he has recorded things on his canvas in a personal way that defies norms, ranging from the nightmares of souls and the overgrowing improper thoughts to the carnival of souls.

Gaze at the Sky, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 100 x 80 cm

Between Reality and Illusion, 2021, Oil on canvas, 150 x 200 cm

I Dreamed a Dream, 2021, Oil on canvas, 150 x 200 cm

Destined to Bloom, 2020, Oil on canvas, 100 x 150 cm

Super Happiness Series (2005–2013)

In 2005, Liu Guoyi moved into Songzhuang and established his own studio, marking the beginning of his journey as a professional artist. He burned many of his earliest works that he felt dissatisfied with—an act that symbolized the hardships and struggles of his early artistic path. Navigating the shifting terrains of life and art, Liu gradually found his own direction through repeated setbacks and reinvention.

His early oil paintings reveal a raw and honest reflection on the complexities of life, often confronting the darker sides of human nature—greed, cruelty, and moral decay. Deeply influenced by Colombian artist Fernando Botero, Liu’s early works are marked by emotional intensity, thematic diversity, and a unified color palette. While he admired Botero, his compositions never directly mirrored Botero’s style. Instead, this period of experimentation helped Liu develop a visual language uniquely his own.

In 2013, he made the decision to bring that chapter to a close and begin a new body of work—a shift not out of intention, but as a natural evolution in his artistic journey.

Super Happiness No.29, 2012, Giclée print on fine art paper, 40 x 100 cm

Superstring Series (2013–2015)

Building upon the last series, Godwin Liu examined into the artistic exploration of dreams and the soul. The “Superstring Series” uses a unique circular stroke technique to depict the harmony and freedom of “another life world”, expressing his belief and imagination of a vast life system beyond the material realm. The series also presents a two-dimensional interpretation of three-dimensional cubism, blending creative inspiration with the purity of human nature. Liu believes that art is a bridge to freedom and a way to explore the purity of human essence through creation.

Wandering Soul on the Way Home No. 3, 2015, Oil on canvas, 180 × 120 cm

Rebirth Series (2016–2019)

Driven by a deeper spiritual conviction, Liu shifted his focus to inner reconstruction. The “Rebirth Series” marks a transition from figurative painting to fragmented visual forms. By restructuring visual language, he aimed to convey a renewed perception of life and imbue his works with greater spiritual energy. Liu sees himself as a “point of light” bringing hope and illumination—his paintings respond to cries in the dark and express his belief in healing and the power of life. Art, for him, is no longer just personal expression, but a medium to resonate with the world. Influenced by masters such as Klimt and Dalí, Liu’s works in this series feature block-like compositions and spiritual symbolism, forming futuristic, intuitive images that further draw his style toward surrealism.

The Galaxy Born of an Unexpected Pregnancy, 2017, Oil on canvas, 120 x 180 cm

Spiritual Art Series (Family of Elves) (2020–2022)

In a modern world consumed by material desire, Godwin Liu’s “Spiritual Art Series” reflects his deep yearning for inner peace and meaning. He believes that contemporary life has drifted far from its essential roots—momentary pleasures mask a deeper sense of emptiness, like trees without roots. In response, he plants a spiritual seed in his inner world, striving to build a beacon between reality and nothingness—one that can awaken and nourish souls in search of happiness and light.

Drawing from his dreams and spiritual intuition, Liu creates fantastical lifeforms and gives “them” consciousness, exploring the complex inner emotions of these imagined beings. His works reflect on the alienation of modern existence and offer profound meditations on life, the self, and the universe—inviting viewers to reconnect with their inner spiritual world.

This series is the evolving result of his ongoing journey through an infinite spiritual cosmos. Balancing spirituality and humanity, Liu presents a unique perspective on art, life, and the boundless potential of the human spirit.

Sense of Security, 2021, Oil on canvas, 150 x 200 cm

Apocalyp-topia Series (2020)

Apocalyp-topia is a key part of the “Family of Elves Series”. Its central figures—Yueyue, Yangyang, Xiongxiong, Chongchong, and Bingbing—are cosmic messengers who each come from a different planet. Distinct in appearance and style, they carry blessings and hope across time and space. As ambassadors of the “Family of Elves”, they guide others in spreading warmth and healing, comforting wounded hearts, and stepping into every home with love to help build an imagined world of kindness and beauty.

Created in 2020 during the outbreak of the global pandemic, the “Apocalyp-topia Series” was inspired by humanity’s fragility in the face of disaster. Liu witnessed people donning surreal outfits in search of protection and hope amid uncertainty, and in response, he created these characters as symbols of strength, comfort, and resilience. The Apocalyp-topia offers healing and encouragement, inspiring us to face the future with courage.

Apocalyp-topia (99 editions), 2022, Cast copper sprayed with silver, 18.5 x 15 x 35 cm / 15 x 15 x 35 cm

Subcosmic Series (2023)

The “Subcosmic Series” marks a new phase in Godwin Liu’s artistic journey, inspired by a deep exploration of the subconscious. The subconscious is a psychological state that lies beneath both conscious and preconscious awareness. Though elusive, it subtly—yet powerfully—influences our thoughts and behaviors. In psychoanalytic theory, Sigmund Freud described the human mind as having three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is fully unconscious and represents our most basic desires, acting without logic or rules. The ego mostly lives in our conscious mind and helps balance our inner desires with the outside world. The superego, partly conscious, reflects our moral values and the expectations of society. This model helps explain the inner tensions that shape our thoughts and behavior.

Godwin Liu channels imagery from the id into a spiritual art experiment, transforming subconscious perception into expressive visual language. With gestural brushwork, he dissects everyday experiences and interweaves microstructures of life, forming a visual narrative akin to communication between living organisms. His works pulse with energy, portraying the dynamic interplay of id, ego, and superego—an attempt to depict a complete and multidimensional psychological architecture.

Recurring motifs of lines and circular forms trace orbital paths, symbolizing the ongoing search for direction by spiritual beings in the cosmos. Organisms appear to emerge, mutate, and emit energy within an expansive space, creating an illusion of time and space extending beyond two-dimensional limits. Dominated by cool tones, the series echoes the visual language of deep space, achieving a harmony between concept and aesthetic.

Through the “Subcosmic Series”, Godwin Liu conveys both a sense of awe and uncertainty about the future world, while unveiling the subconscious as a fertile ground for dream-inspired creativity. As the series unfolds, various “elf-like” figures emerge—embodiments of the artist’s own subconscious states. These are not imaginary inventions, but extensions of his inner world.

For Godwin Liu, as long as the soul remains free, imagination knows no bounds. It is within this free spiritual dimension that he constructs his own Subcosmos—an artistic universe where rational inquiry and emotional experience coexist.

King of Great Taste, 2022, Oil on canvas, 120 x 180 cm

Of Reality and Illusion Series (2024)

— Rethinking Perceptual Boundaries and Visual Form Construction

In Godwin Liu’s latest series “Of Reality and Illusion”, he continues to explore the shifting boundary between the real and the unreal. With a cooler, more complex visual language, he investigates the fluid relationships between illusion and reality, substance and apparition, cognition and perception.

This series extends the “chaotic emergence” aesthetics of his earlier “Superstring” works, using techniques such as dislocated compositions, symbolic distortion, and light interference to construct a vision of “unstable reality”. These figures — whether human, elf, or animal — blend memory and imagination, shifting between what we know and what we only sense.

Liu gives “illusion” weight through layered textures and intricate surfaces, transforming it from emptiness into a field of potential meaning. His method echoes Picasso’s Cubism, where fractured planes and simultaneous perspectives reconstruct reality rather than replicate it, revealing its multiplicity across time and space. Similarly, Liu’s practice calls for a nonlinear mode of viewing — a process that draws the viewer into the complex unfolding of time, space, and meaning.

• Illusion arises from virtuality, dreams, and imagination—an untouchable yet real domain of experience.
• Reality is more than the physical; it is also shaped by our collective consensus.
• Chaos is not disorder, but a state before systems find structure—a fertile ground for new forms.

In this way, “Of Reality and Illusion” responds to today’s era of fragmented images and information, challenging how we define and perceive what is real.

Of Reality and Illusion Series No. 11, 2024, Oil on canvas, 150 x 170 cm