"Visions of the Incarnate: Nude Series by Liu Ying"
Liu Ying sees existence as energy.
The body is not clay, moulded and left to harden. It is a river of light, forever flowing. Bones are pathways of energy; skin is the threshold of vibration while breath is the rhythm of the universe moving through us. When Liu Ying paints, she does not simply depict the human figure but renders the universes within.
As a woman who paints, she knows what the body says without words. Internal physical sensations, visceral scars of time and the flow of vital life force exist, and her paintings become the testimony of those invisible existences. Her explosive strokes and powerful impasto trace the pathways of breath and record the rhythm of heartbeats. The nude depicted becomes the echo chamber of the soul. The curve of a spine harbours a lifetime of struggle while the gesture of hands carries unspoken desire.
For Liu Ying, this is how energy becomes visible. What has no form takes shape on the canvas; what cannot be seen manifests itself from colours. When we are looking at her work, we are following the path of energy, connecting us with something deeper. Her paintings are the vibrations of life incarnate.
Liu Ying graduated from the China Academy of Art, where she was trained in the rigor of realism. That foundation gives power and freedom to her expressive image distortion. She knows the rules so deeply that she knows exactly when and how to break them. It is never accidental. It is a conscious choice: to move away from superficial resemblance in order to reach the “truth” beneath.
These days, when people can easily render light and shadow with flawless accuracy, replicate proportions to perfection, and generate bodies so ideal they make you despair, can we still appreciate that a trembling brushstroke holds more life than any perfectly rendered line? Do we still resonate with an off-balance composition that might translate the soul on a firmer footing? What passes between two people when their eyes meet—that invisible current in the air—is a conversation between energies, one existence recognizing another.
Liu Ying chooses to give shape to the imperfect, the trembling, and the unbalanced. For her, this is the only way to honour the most primal dignity of the flesh. Only that which fades is worth remembering; and only that which pains is testament to having truly lived. Stand in front of her paintings and release your grip on likeness. Feel with your body what bodies can be. Let your energy reach for her strokes and impasto. Buried in distorted forms and raging colours are the artist’s flaming soul and fearless spirit.
Arman Lam
February 2026
Credit: Image courtesy of the artist. Photo by Felix Wong.
