Liu Shiming & Lite Zhang: TRACES

The Liu Shiming Art Foundation is pleased to announce its upcoming exhibition TRACES, on view from October 7 through October 31, 2025. The exhibition brings together the works of two Chinese artists from different generations, Liu Shiming (1926-2010) and Lite Zhang (b. 1998), both of whom explore the human body as a site of passage and transformation, capturing the fragility and strength of existence.

For both artists, the body is central to their practice, not as an idealized form, but as a vessel for experience and transformation. The exhibition places the works of these two artists in dialogue with each other. As one example, Zhang’s installation of drift wood, construction wood, hemp rope, and metal entitled Same Roots presents a representation of bodies adrift in a search for hope and patience; five of Liu Shiming’s clay and bronze busts will surround the installation, acting as silent witnesses to this journey. The works face each other as if in conversation, creating a suspended moment where ambiguous figures and bodily metaphors gain interpretive possibility.

Liu Shiming’s simple, sensitive busts and reclining figures embody a universal humanity rooted in everyday life. His works strive to show the imprints of the sculptural process, while also reflecting the vulnerable traces of life itself. In contrast, Lite Zhang investigates the body through themes of displacement and migration, transforming materials into works that merge installation, performance, and sculpture. His pieces create unstable presences within a space, suggesting a constant oscillation between being grounded and drifting.

Together, the artists’ shared sensibility brings to light the fragile moments and inner landscapes of ordinary people in moments of instability. They question how bodies move, are perceived, and impact what endures and changes over time. TRACES invites viewers to contemplate what connects people to humanity, nature, and the broader world.

On October 10th from 4-6pm, the Foundation will host a panel to discuss the exhibition with Lite Zhang, artist Alexandra Grant, and Director of Rinehart School of Sculpture MFA at MICA Dolores Zinny.