Sculpture Court Mural: Charlene Liu

Sculpture Court

July 2025 - July 2026

Charlene Liu (b. 1950, Taiwan; based in Eugene, OR) creates paintings, prints, and mixed media installations that blend family histories, cultural references, and decorative patterns. Liu incorporates wide-ranging traditions into her imagery, drawing from nature, food, still life painting, and European and East Asian art and design. When combined, these references explore memory, heritage, and identity, challenging linear ideas of art history and resisting fixed categories.

For this inaugural mural presentation in the Henry’s Sculpture Court, Liu presents a lush, imagined landscape built from food-inspired forms. This work builds on her ongoing engagement with food as a means to locate culture and heritage amidst diaspora. Rendered in a fluid, multi-layered, visual language, this fantastical landscape offers a portal to reflect on how culinary traditions build belonging in place and playfully celebrates the importance of shared food experiences.

Artist Bio

Born in Taiwan and raised in the American Midwest, Charlene Liu is a Professor of Art and Printmaking at the University of Oregon in Eugene. Her work has been exhibited at the USC Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA; Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at Portland State University; Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA; Crow's Shadow Institute of the Arts, Pendleton, OR; LeRoy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University, New York; Oregon Center for Contemporary Art, Portland; Schneider Museum of Art, Ashland, OR; and the 14th Biennale internationale d’estampe contemporaine de Trois-Rivières, and is held in private and public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the New Museum, and the Tacoma Art Museum. Liu was awarded a 2024 Halie Ford Fellowship in the Visual Arts from the Ford Family Foundation.

CREDITS

Charlene Liu is organized by Nina Bozicnik, Senior Curator, with Em Chan, Curatorial Assistant.

Exhibitions at the Henry are made possible through the generous support of our annual sponsors, 4Culture and ArtsFund.