| Hongdi Liu: Portrait of a scientist as an artist |
by Susan J. Hughes
"Art is communication, not just a pretty picture," says Hongdi Liu, a scientist with a passion for art. By day,
Mr. Liu studies microbiology in the University of Wisconsin Department of Agronomy as a research specialist,
by night he paints it. His paintings represent dreams, "the aspiration of the human spirit, not quantifiable by
matter in the environment and the cosmos," he wrote in his artist’s statement for his current exhibit at Whole
Foods Market on University Avenue in Madison. In other words, Mr. Liu's imagination, which held him up
spiritually, mentally, and emotionally during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, supports him today in the lab
and on the canvas. "Color is a universal language" bridging cultural and racial gaps, says Mr. Liu, a self-
taught artist who uses painting as an escape and a connection to the "greater universe."
In 1962, Mao Tse-tung instituted the socialist education movement in the People’s Republic of China to
"cleanse" the party from capitalist and anti-socialist tendencies through school reformation. According to
Mao, professionals had a "tendency to have greater regard for their own specialized fields than for the goals
of the party” and therefore needed to be purified through manual labor. This edict affected many students’
lives, including Mr. Liu's.
Mr. Liu was born in the Hunan province and grew up in Beijing, China. In the early ‘60s, at the age of 16,
he was forced to leave his family and go to work in Xishuang-Ban-Na labor camp, 1,000 miles away in the
beautiful Yunnan province. To escape the tortuous life of the labor camp, Mr. Liu immersed himself in
painting as much as time allowed. As he used lines and colors to express his feelings of loneliness and
beauty, Mr. Liu's free spirit survived. In the labor camp, Mr. Liu painted animals, but was restricted on use of
color which causes him to passionately use color today because it represents his eternal freedom from slave
labor.
Mr. Liu left China in 1993 and came to Madison, Wisconsin to study microbiology professionally at the UW.
He was able to obtain a green card because he is a notable scientist. In fact, he has discovered four new
species of fungi on his own, a formidable accomplishment for a scientist. The connection between art and
science is a unique one for Mr. Liu: his dreams. "In my dream,” he wrote, “I observe the interaction between
the microbiological world and the great natural world".
Coming to the United States was an artistic coup for Mr. Liu, because in China he did not have the time to
pursue his passion for art. "The Chinese system is very restrictive,” he pointed out through an interpreter, and
"does not allow time for freedom of expression outside the work arena."
Today, Mr. Liu is primarily occupied with science and draws his inspiration for his paintings from the
microbiological laboratory and the electron microscope. “My paintings announce to the world, through colors
as language, about my 27 years of biological study of molecular forms — about viruses erupting from neurons,
as well as the transit of viruses ..."
Turning to nature for artistic inspiration is traditional among Chinese painters and can be observed
throughout history. However, Mr. Liu has put a twist on this theme by using actual pictorial representations of
microorganisms in his paintings. He paints mitosis, double strand DNA helixes, chromosomes, viruses, and the
process of fertilization in the background to provide texture and interest; the foregrounds are largely sensual
female figures and symbolic animals. Mr. Liu states that he “wishes to educate children and share his wealth
of scientific knowledge with the general public," explaining that " the message of his paintings is that all
people want freedom regardless of culture or race. In scientific terms, we are all Homo sapiens, even though
we have different skin color."
Mr. Lui counts the murals of the Dunhuang era among his strongest historical artistic influences. The cave
temples near Dunhuang, China, are one of the world's greatest religious sanctuaries and represent 1,000 years
of Chinese painting. The use of one color to make a three-dimensional effect along with deep, dark black
lines dates back to the 4th century when the murals were created. The foreground figures in Mr. Liu's
paintings exhibit the Dunhuang influence quite strongly.
"If one has skills, one will be discovered and recognized by the society," Mr. Liu believes. This is definitely
true in his case. He became not only an accomplished scientist, but a passionate artist as well.
"Art is communication, not just a pretty picture," says Hongdi Liu, a scientist with a passion for art. By day,
Mr. Liu studies microbiology in the University of Wisconsin Department of Agronomy as a research specialist,
by night he paints it. His paintings represent dreams, "the aspiration of the human spirit, not quantifiable by
matter in the environment and the cosmos," he wrote in his artist’s statement for his current exhibit at Whole
Foods Market on University Avenue in Madison. In other words, Mr. Liu's imagination, which held him up
spiritually, mentally, and emotionally during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, supports him today in the lab
and on the canvas. "Color is a universal language" bridging cultural and racial gaps, says Mr. Liu, a self-
taught artist who uses painting as an escape and a connection to the "greater universe."
In 1962, Mao Tse-tung instituted the socialist education movement in the People’s Republic of China to
"cleanse" the party from capitalist and anti-socialist tendencies through school reformation. According to
Mao, professionals had a "tendency to have greater regard for their own specialized fields than for the goals
of the party” and therefore needed to be purified through manual labor. This edict affected many students’
lives, including Mr. Liu's.
Mr. Liu was born in the Hunan province and grew up in Beijing, China. In the early ‘60s, at the age of 16,
he was forced to leave his family and go to work in Xishuang-Ban-Na labor camp, 1,000 miles away in the
beautiful Yunnan province. To escape the tortuous life of the labor camp, Mr. Liu immersed himself in
painting as much as time allowed. As he used lines and colors to express his feelings of loneliness and
beauty, Mr. Liu's free spirit survived. In the labor camp, Mr. Liu painted animals, but was restricted on use of
color which causes him to passionately use color today because it represents his eternal freedom from slave
labor.
Mr. Liu left China in 1993 and came to Madison, Wisconsin to study microbiology professionally at the UW.
He was able to obtain a green card because he is a notable scientist. In fact, he has discovered four new
species of fungi on his own, a formidable accomplishment for a scientist. The connection between art and
science is a unique one for Mr. Liu: his dreams. "In my dream,” he wrote, “I observe the interaction between
the microbiological world and the great natural world".
Coming to the United States was an artistic coup for Mr. Liu, because in China he did not have the time to
pursue his passion for art. "The Chinese system is very restrictive,” he pointed out through an interpreter, and
"does not allow time for freedom of expression outside the work arena."
Today, Mr. Liu is primarily occupied with science and draws his inspiration for his paintings from the
microbiological laboratory and the electron microscope. “My paintings announce to the world, through colors
as language, about my 27 years of biological study of molecular forms — about viruses erupting from neurons,
as well as the transit of viruses ..."
Turning to nature for artistic inspiration is traditional among Chinese painters and can be observed
throughout history. However, Mr. Liu has put a twist on this theme by using actual pictorial representations of
microorganisms in his paintings. He paints mitosis, double strand DNA helixes, chromosomes, viruses, and the
process of fertilization in the background to provide texture and interest; the foregrounds are largely sensual
female figures and symbolic animals. Mr. Liu states that he “wishes to educate children and share his wealth
of scientific knowledge with the general public," explaining that " the message of his paintings is that all
people want freedom regardless of culture or race. In scientific terms, we are all Homo sapiens, even though
we have different skin color."
Mr. Lui counts the murals of the Dunhuang era among his strongest historical artistic influences. The cave
temples near Dunhuang, China, are one of the world's greatest religious sanctuaries and represent 1,000 years
of Chinese painting. The use of one color to make a three-dimensional effect along with deep, dark black
lines dates back to the 4th century when the murals were created. The foreground figures in Mr. Liu's
paintings exhibit the Dunhuang influence quite strongly.
"If one has skills, one will be discovered and recognized by the society," Mr. Liu believes. This is definitely
true in his case. He became not only an accomplished scientist, but a passionate artist as well.
| Thinking |
| Drosophila embryo nervous system & mitochondrion |