Nude series
Gouache on 300gsm acid free French cotton paper
93.5 x 74.5 cm, Italian pewter frame
$3,100
Dapeng Liu’s Nude Series
In Dapeng Liu’s Nude Series, the body is distilled into its purest essence: the line. His strokes draw upon the elegance of traditional Chinese ink painting and the cadence of calligraphy, yet move toward an even greater simplicity where a single gesture can suggest an entire form. Each contour is a balance of restraint and expression, where nothing is added that does not belong.
The works are painted with gouache on smooth cotton paper, a surface whose quiet texture emerges only when touched by water and pigment. Liu chooses large European watercolour brushes over traditional Chinese brushes; their greater capacity for water creates long, unbroken strokes that suit the scale and rhythm of his compositions. Yet, this very abundance of water resists absolute control, allowing chance to shape each mark. Within this unpredictability, every line becomes a singular event, its texture, depth, and fluidity never to be repeated.
Here, precision and spontaneity coexist. Shape, proportion, and composition are determined with deliberation, but the final breath of each work is left to the living movement of ink and water. The process demands both skill and surrender: there is no erasing, no altering—only the immediacy of brush to paper. A single finished piece may emerge in the first attempt, or only after many trials, waiting for that rare moment when control and accident meet in perfect accord—when the work finally satisfies the artist’s eye.
