Light is the source of all life. It’s something we learn at school: without light, plants can’t photosynthesise, and no animals that rely on them, including humans, can survive. Fang Liu incorporates this thinking into her curation of the cyanotypes in the exhibition ‘Luminous Flesh — Objects Between Presence and Absence‘.
The Installation view of “Luminous Flesh Objects Between Presence and Absence” at the Purist Gallery, London. Photo by Jinming Liu.
We seldom think of flesh as luminous, but we can see it in ourselves when we close our eyes against a strong light source; we see the blood vessels on our eyelids, the yellows, oranges and reds. Likewise, when light is shone through the webbing between our thumb and forefinger, or our earlobes.
Plants offer a similar luminosity, and when captured in cyanotypes, we see both translucent and opaque elements of their structure. When an organism that has grown due to light is captured by light, the question arises of how it will be lit. In a gallery setting, there is both natural and artificial light, as well as the light reflected off the white walls. All these factors must be considered when deciding how to hang the works.
I particularly like the idea of leaving some works hanging or floating in the space, the way flowers and plants fill a space, in the middle and not solely at the edges. Other works hang unframed, just like nature doesn’t adhere to our constraints, where plants can grow in the smallest cracks in our concrete urban jungles, and if we were to suddenly leave this world, they would reclaim it quickly.
The Installation view of “Luminous Flesh Objects Between Presence and Absence” at the Purist Gallery, London. Photo by Jinming Liu.
The diptych Orchid Atlas in Reversal and Phase is hung so that the works are inverted, with one dominated by white and the other by blue. They are flipped on both the horizontal and vertical axis so that they resemble the yin and yang symbol, recognising that while botanical cyanotypes are often associated with Western art history, these are the works of an artist of Chinese heritage, where the blue and white carries its own symbolism, often associated with Ming Dynasty porcelain.
While the works on show were relatively small, Liu ensures each has its own room to breathe. Just as one plant can’t fully bloom if strangled by its neighbours, art only blooms when given the time to take a viewer’s sole focus. They are evenly spaced so the audience can step back and take in each piece, set against a white-walled background.
The exhibition was a celebration of a Chinese artist’s vision, and we can see Liu’s broader goals of helping other artists through her art platform, ‘Zero to One’, and her co-founding of the Asian Girls Club, a cultural space that supports and amplifies the voices of Asian women artists.
‘Luminous Flesh — Objects Between Presence and Absence‘ was a beautifully curated exhibition, and I look forward to more shows curated by Fang Liu with an equal dedication to giving each work the room it needs to breathe while making the most of a space, including both natural and artificial light sources.
The Installation view of “Luminous Flesh Objects Between Presence and Absence” at the Purist Gallery, London. Photo by Jinming Liu.
光是所有生命的本源。這是我們在學校便已學到的常識：沒有光，植物無法進行光合作用，依賴植物生存的動物（包括人類）也將不復存在。在策劃展覽《Luminous Flesh Objects Between Presence and Absence》時，劉芳以藍曬作品為媒介，將這種光與與生命的思考貫穿於整體策展之中。
我們很少將「肉身」與發光聯繫起來，但當我們閉眼面向強光時，卻能看見自己眼瞼下的血管網絡，那些躍動的黃、橙與暗紅。同樣地，當光線穿透拇指與食指間的蹼膜，或穿過耳垂時，生命的光感便悄然顯現。
植物亦擁有類似的光性。在藍曬法的捕捉下，它們結構中的半透明與不透明層次得以顯現。當一個因光而生的有機體被光記錄時，如何照亮它便成為核心命題。在美術館中，自然光、人工光以及白牆反射光共同構成光的劇場，每件作品的懸掛方式都需考量這些光的對話。
我尤為欣賞讓部分作品如花草般懸垂或漂浮於空間中的構思，它們不局限於邊緣，而是佔據空間的核心。另一些作品無框懸掛，正如自然從不屈從人類的規訓：植物可以在混凝土叢林的微小裂縫中生長，倘若人類突然從世界退場，它們將迅速重掌這片領域。
雙聯作《Orchid Atlas in Reversal and Phase》以倒置形式懸掛，一幅以白色為主導，另一幅則浸入普魯士藍。它們在橫縱軸線上均經過翻轉，形似陰陽符號。這既呼應了植物藍曬在西方藝術史中的脈絡，也昭示著藝術家自身的中華文化基因：藍白二色承載著獨特的象徵系統，令人聯想到明代青花瓷的深邃傳統。
展出的作品尺幅雖相對小巧，劉芳卻為每一件保留了呼吸的空間。正如植物若被鄰者扼住脖頸便無法盛開，藝術作品唯有在獲得觀者專注凝視時才能真正綻放。它們以均衡的間隔懸掛於白牆之前，讓觀眾得以退後，沉浸於每一件作品的微觀宇宙。
這場展覽是對一位中國藝術家視覺哲學的禮讚。我們也能看到劉芳更廣闊的使命：透過她的藝術平台 「Zero to One」，以及她參與創立的 「Asian Girls Club」，一個支持並放大亞洲女性藝術家聲音的文化空間，持續助力更多創作者。
《Luminous Flesh Objects Between Presence and Absence》是一場精心構築的展覽。我期待劉芳未來的策展實踐，繼續以這般對光與空間的敏銳感知，為每一件作品賦予呼吸的間距，同時讓自然與人工之光在空間中達成詩意的平衡。
Portrait of Fang Liu (Summer)
Text By Tabish Khan
Published on 10th December 2025
