Through the depiction of qipao-clad female bodies crafted from delicate porcelain, Liu Jianhua invites viewers into a world where beauty and fragility intersect with themes of excess and desire.
The lack of heads and arms on these figures strips them entirely of individuality, emotion, and autonomy. They are dehumanized, reduced to mere vessels for desire within the consumer gaze. Their sexualized poses and curvaceous forms speak directly to the pervasive commodification of the female form. By presenting these figures in a state of undress and in provocative poses, Liu Jianhua highlights the ways in which women and art itself has become commodified, reduced to a mere commodity to be bought, sold, and consumed like any other product.
The choice of porcelain seems intentional to me. On one hand, it lends the figures an almost ethereal, ghostly beauty. Yet this fragility also serves as a harsh condemnation of treating women as delicate objects to be acquired, used, and discarded on a whim by consumer society. Each figure, draped in elegant attire, embodies a timeless sense of femininity and grace, yet their porcelain forms serve as a stark reminder of their inherent vulnerability.
Now consider why did Liu created six nearly identical women? The obsessive replication hints at the soulless, mass-produced excess that characterizes cultures of consumption. We are surrounded by multitudes of the same objects, endlessly manufactured to sate insatiable appetites for new commodities. In this context, the female forms become just another production line of commodities to consume.
Particularly insidious is Liu’s use of the traditional qipao dress, emblematic of Chinese cultural heritage. By presenting ancient aesthetics through the modern lens of commodification, he lays before us how even revered traditions become fetishized and repackaged as exotic products for the market’s consumption.
Liu Jianhua forces viewers to confront the way art, aesthetics, culture, and sexuality are being used to the advantage of capitalism and consumerism. It served as a wake-up call to me, what about you?
