The beauty of the sculptural painting works of Huntz Liu, who cuts and layers paper into beautiful geometric compositions, is that he tempers his layers with a smart ability to not over do the materials. Everything feels in perfect balance, just right. "Recently, I have been further exploring the collision between imaginary space and real space," Liu says on his site. "Shadows that cast shadow/extruding shapes that recede like a sunken relief/sliced shapes formed by cut material. From April 4—25, Thinkspace Projects will host a special "virutal showcase" of Liu's work in Subtraction, with a virtual tour hosting on April 4 from 5—7pm on Thinkspace's channels. They sat down with the artist recently to discuss his mentors, his Exacto-blades use and crab dinner with Kanye. 

Sour Harvest: In our previous interview, you indicated sourcing a lot inspiration from architecture and interior spaces. Can you tell us what some of your favorite buildings or spaces maybe?
Huntz Liu: Of buildings I’ve seen, they would be the Salk Institute, Bauhaus Dessau, Getty Center, Musée d’Orsay.

Do you buy your colored paper in bulk for multiple works to be made at the same time or just the paper you need for one piece? Can you share with us a picture of how your paper is stored/organized?
I buy and store paper in bulk. My studio can definitely pass as a paper store.

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How many Exacto-blades do you go through in a month?
I would say roughly 50 blades.

Did or do you have an artistic mentor?
No, I’ve never had one.

Are you a coffee or tea person? How do you prepare it, and do you have a favorite brand
Coffee for sure. I just burr grind and brew with a basic machine. Not too picky about coffee roasters.

If you could make an album cover for any musical artist, who would it be?
Probably Beck.

If you could download any skill into your brain, Matrix-style, what would you want to instantly learn?
I would download the skill of being able to maintain a consistent meditation/mindfulness practice. Maybe that’s just discipline.. is discipline a skill?

Would you rather be able to talk to animals or read people’s minds?
Read people’s minds.

If you could have dinner with 5 people dead or alive, who would they be and what would you be eating?
Bruce Lee, Kanye, Nefertiti, Elliott Smith, and Duchamp... getting our hands dirty at a Boiling Crab.

On Saturday, April 4th, Thinkspace Projects will be hosting a special "opening" as live streams on Instagram and Facebook from 5-7pm PST to celebrate both Carlos Ramirez and Huntz Liu's shows. Full digital previews for both exhibits will be live tomorrow Saturday, April 4 at 10am PST on https://thinkspaceprojects.com/

Schedule is as follows:

5pm - Video posted to Thinkspace's Instagram TV

5:15pm - Thinkspace will go live on Instagram

6pm - They will go live on Facebook 

6:30pm - Webinar tour on Zoom / details to follow