Liuxu Luo

Poetry Plant and Yinyun(氤氲)

Poetry Plant and Yinyun(氤氲) are both vibrant examples of Liuxu Luo’s unique voice. Poetry Plant is a dress-like piece in which patchwork and embroidery were applied to transparent layers of cloth. Luo used laser cutting and a sewing machine to make lace- like, three-dimensional pattern draping from two-dimensional embroidery. She created an installation that brought beauty and pleasure to the spaces it filled; like she believes plants and sunlight do, thereby changing the atmosphere to be more tranquil and vivid. The effect plants have on people and vice versa is a subject she explored with a poet to animate her piece. The poem, I, Like a Tall Tree, was read aloud next to her ethereal pieces to give them context. Yinyun(氤) is a body of work dyed solely using onion skins. Luo developed this project under the mentorship of María Elena Pombo of Fragmentario. Yinyun(氤), in Chinese, is used to describe the feeling of being enshrouded, echoing the way onion skins cover each other layer by layer. Luo developed a set of onion-skin dyed garments; creating pleats and applying ornament-like laser cut pieces that represented the onion cells she studied in her high school science class. Some of the silhouettes of the garments were inspired by traditional Chinese layered costumes. Luo created a short film to show the intimate process of how traditional costumes were slowly layered, dressing herself with her handmade pieces to create her own ritual in the YinYun way.

Liuxu Luo is passionate about incorporating mediums such as painting, watercolor and handicraft into her creative practice. She sees herself as a collector; fascinated by beautiful tiny things like handmade materials, tiny antiques and what others might call ‘garbage.’ She started using techniques like embroidery and laser cutting to develop more ways of drawing; using stitches and laser cut pieces to add color and texture to her work. She believes using natural dyes adds a richer cultural connection to her work as well. Luo hopes her visions and creations bring something encouraging to others. Born in China, Luo is currently pursuing an MFA in Textiles at Parsons School of Design in New York.

luol593@newschool.edu