Carnegie Visual Arts Center

Michael Liu was born in Kweishan, Taiwan in 1962, the grandson of the city’s mayor.  At the local high school he was both an avid artist and track star, winning several national medals.  In 1985 he graduated from the College of Engineering in Kaohsiung and began his military service.  After working as an engineer for several years, he returned to his early interest in art and opened galleries in Taoyuan, Taiwan, and Evadon, Switzerland.  At first he handled only works by other artists, specializing in prints from the Yunan School, but then he began to produce his own art both in charcoal and acrylic.  At this time Michael also worked actively as an interior designer, often providing the art that his clients needed.

Michael’s art is self taught and reflects his personal interests and his experiences in both the Chinese culture in which he grew up and the Western culture which he experienced as an adult.  Using his detailed and realistic style he does portraits in charcoal and in pencil.  Often these are interesting people and often they are animals, especially dogs.

Since 2008 Michael has explored an interest in paper cutting, an art form that has roots in both Chinese and Japanese art.  In the US we may think of the cut-paper silhouettes that were popular in our Federal period as an early antecedent, but anyone who has seen Michael’s cut paper portraits knows that he has pioneered a new approach to capture personalities in three dimensions.

Today, Michael divides his time between Taiwan and Alabama.  His bicultural life is expressed in his signature which overlaps his western name with his Chinese personal stamp.  Michael creates art as inspired and by private commission.