Feat. Kevin Liu
Hi, my name is Kevin Liu! I am an artist from Winchester, Massachusetts. I currently reside in Hank Ingram, and I am a Biochemistry and Spanish double major pursuing a minor in studio art.
What is your primary medium of art?
I typically work with two-dimensional media: pastels,chalk, colored pencil, graphite, water color
When did you get into drawing?
This is what my mom says at least [laughs]: I would draw on the walls all the time. So, she was like, “You know what? Let’s put this to use.” So, she signed me up for art classes when I was about 5, and I did them until 10th grade, took a break for a little bit, pursuing art on my own, and then joined again in 11th and 12th grade to just develop my technique.
I have to thank my mom for all of this. I was really lucky in that in our neighborhood, there were a lot of kids who were really interested in art. We were about 5 years apart in ago, and every Tuesday she would bring all the kids together and hire an art tutor to give us lessons. The emphasis in the first three years especially was on technique, so we’d do a lot of still life’s where they would put an object down and we would draw it. It feels weird saying it like that, because for me it was just Tuesdays. [laughs] After about three years it became more creative, which is what I really liked, so we’d still have an object that we would base our drawings on, but he gave us the liberty to make a background and build a story around it, which is what I really fell in love with.
Your parents seem very supportive of you and your creative interests? Was there ever any push back?
Their intent was to expose me to different fields—they put me in music and sports, too. As I got older, it became clear that although art is good as a hobby, I should be looking into different things. But I do have to thank them for giving me the exposure and for being so supportive. Like, they didn’t ever say, “This is great, but you should focus on your studies”. They would be like, “Oh, this is great. I like what you did here. Keep making stuff,” which I’m very appreciative for.
What does art mean to you?
It’s very hard to define art. It’s something that’s unique to every person. Every person that makes it, every person that looks to it.
I look at art as a puzzle. I like to do surrealism in my pieces and try to find ways to express abstract and intangible concepts, and say how can I present this, not necessarily concretely, but visually. As something that people can see.
Art to me isn’t just an activity, it’s something that affects everything—especially how you view the world and events. Sports are great, but a lot of times there may be equipment you need, there may be space you need, there may be other people that you need. Music is wonderful too. You can always listen to it, but in order to create it—unless you’re a vocalist—you have to have an instrument and space to perform. But, for me, art is just the essence of creativity. And part of that is just seeing the world in different ways. Like, you can look at this one way, but what if I change the angle and change the light. And that’s something you can apply that in your everyday life.