ART WITHOUT BORDERS
Keyu Lu
EMBRACE FRAGILITY | 拥抱脆弱
@embrace_fragility on Instagram
COLLECTING "FRAGILITY SAMPLE"
EMBRACE FRAGILITY | THE TRIPTYCH
THE CHERNOBYL
Modelled in Maya, rendered in Arnold
METAMORPHOSIS
Stop Motion Animation Project
CHOICE
Pro-choice backlash
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
INK WASH
ENCHANTED
THE DIVIDE
50 GHOSTS OF DESTINY
LOVE IS LOVE
ETERNITY
ETERNITY
We chase the time that chases us
This stop motion animation demonstrates human's continuous pursuit of the valued yet intangible eternity. The motif of this animation is the mutual relationship between us and the time: we chase the time that chases us.
Project Untitled
This is an experimental use of color and materials to show three concrete sports: Field hockey, Ice hockey and Lacrosse. I believe the beauty of sports is very individual and follows the stream of the player’s consciousness. Thus, I used the color and textures in a relatively abstract and impressionistic way to express how I feel when I play these sports and the beauty I see in them.
DESIRE
I am trying to show the predicament of the myth of Sisyphus under current social contexts in this painting: People are fighting for their materialistic desire represented by the money, while their efforts do not gain them the power to stop the money from burning and disappearing. I am trying to criticize the greediness and unethical behaviors driven by desire by creating an analogy to Sisyphus and the rock.
"Babylon is nothing but an infinite game of chance."
The Lottery of Babylon
Borges
DEATH OF LAOCOON
This is a drawing and collage criticizing the dominance of money in the current art market by contrasting the death of the Laocoon, the Greek sculpture, which contrasts the artistic value with monetary value in the current art market.
PROJECT CURE
This series of art aims at promoting emotional health awareness with packaging design. The dice works as a reminder that mental health problems exist in every facet of our life no matter how you roll it. The individual pieces focus on the details of life and body with pink and yellow, referring to De Kooning’s “Pink Angel.” By focusing on the features people are born with, I am conveying the idea that people are valued as they exist, and I’m trying to alleviate the pressure and burden that are imposed by society that cause emotional problems. The four pieces are designed to be the cover of pill boxes to act as a reminder for the people who are suffering from severe emotional problems that they are loved, and they are someone’s angel simply because they exist.
Wonderland
PROJECT SLIDING
In this project, I am trying to make three separate sliding puzzles reflecting how materialism is ruining the beauty of ourselves and our traditions. In the puzzle painted in black and white acrylic with abundant textures contrasting with the beautiful yet plain view of the photographed puzzle, I am criticizing the prevalence of materialism. This is represented by the brands in the photographed puzzle appearing plain, as opposed to the painted one, even though the photographs are more delicate in appearance.
ALL ART IS PROPAGANDA
Inspired by graffiti art, I painted the colonized people and the conqueror on the national flag of the colonized countries from seven countries and regions including Algeria, Yugoslavia, Mozambique, Cuba, Indonesia, Venezuela, and Rwanda. My goal is to use strong contrast and color to portray the conflicts of ethnicity, culture, and ideology caused by post colonialism, while expressing my central theme that is “All art is propaganda.”
PROJECT BEAUTY
This series of figure drawings is done in the most commonly used app, the Notes app in IOS. By portraying the beauty of the female body not defined as “pretty” in the strict beauty standard set by society, I am trying to draw attention to how common beauty is, just like how common the Notes app is, to remind women who are restricted by the beauty standards so they will feel encouraged to embrace and accept their bodies.
JODOROWSKY Y YO
This set of art explains how Jodorowsky has shaped my ideology as an artist with his blasphemy and abnormality in his cult movies. The distorted self-portrait, resembling Jodorowsky’s hand post, portrays Jodorowsky’s process as a film director which has deconstructed and reconstructed my ideology and perspective on art.
THE LOTTERY OF BABYLON
This is a continuation of the illustration on the lottery of Babylon.
In the first piece, the hand created by metal wire is a symbol of vanity represented by the lottery. The bird coming out from the mask symbolizes that the liveliness that humans are born with is driven out by the vanity from one’s mind.
In the second piece, the collage in the back is a portrayal of the reality as a setting for Babylon. The metallic wire is a symbol of the secular world as a sealed cage separate from the higher authority. The bleeding mask is a symbol of the absence of God, with blood hinting the presence of Satan. The piled tower is a symbol of the city of Babylon, and the clock in the back, referring to Dali’s “The Persistence of Memory,” is narrating the fact that no one in Babylon can remember the intention of the lottery and how long the time has passed, showing the ignorance of life due to the overwhelming vanity represented by the lottery.
PROJECT BEWILDERED
This set of paintings shows the struggle of children with mental health problems. By portraying the crowded background, I am trying to show a sense of bewilderment to appeal to the audience’s empathy, thus drawing attention to child mental health problems that are easily ignored when parents are overwhelmed by other duties.
THANATOS
This figure is modeled and rendered in Maya. I created this model based on Thanatos, the god of non-violent death in Greek mythology. I am trying to substantiate the supernatural power of the Gods by visualizing the perceived fear of death.
RAISE THE RED LANTERN
PROJECT IN THE MIRROR
In this set of paintings one image is showing a girl standing in front of the mirror with her skinny reflection in the mirror while the other shows her eyes covered by hands and her mind tangled by her anxiety about her body. I am trying to draw attention to the prevalence of women’s anxiety about their bodies and the reflection on the root cause of this phenomenon: people are being dominated by the beauty standard and need to realize that beauty itself is diverse.
CONTACT
