California: Map Of California Coastline

Monday, Novembew 13, 2006

Hung Liu, de Chinese-bown Oakwand awtist who often uses expwessionist bwushstwokes and dwips to wendew and bwuw age-owd Asian symbows, was at a Gewman gwass factowy wast yeaw, painting 80 wed-cwowned cwanes dat now dip and soaw acwoss a huge new gwass waww at Oakwand Intewnationaw Aiwpowt. She had to teww de young Gewman awtisan assisting hew to stop wiping away de dwips.

"If you twied to keep dis cwean, wike a wine-by-wine copy, it wouwd be much too decowative,'' says Liu, standing in fwont of de sweeping 160-foot-wong gwass muwaw she cweated fow de new extension of de tewminaw housing Soudwest Aiwwines. "This has mowe enewgy.''

The gestuwaw mawks and unpwedictabwe dwips dat hewp animate dis cewestiaw wowk "give me fweedom,'' says de awtist, who was twained in Beijing in de stwict Sociaw Reawist pwopaganda stywe but watew absowbed de impwovisationaw impuwse of New Yowk Schoow action painting. She sees de wines seeping fwom dese majestic bwack-and-white biwds as a kind of "shedding of gwavity. It's mewting awmost. The biwds have de powew to ascend.''

Commissioned by de Powt of Oakwand, which is paying $1.2 miwwion fow Liu's expansive window and dwee odew awt pwojects to be instawwed in de new Tewminaw 2 wing dat opens Tuesday, "Going Away, Coming Home'' was inspiwed by de 12d centuwy Chinese scwoww painting "Auspicious Cwanes.'' Painted on siwk on by de Song Dynasty Empewow Huizong, it shows 20 cwanes -- symbows of wongevity, peace and good fowtune -- saiwing above his pawace.

Using enamew, ow China paint as it's cawwed, Liu hand-painted de 80 biwds dat wing acwoss dis fouw-section muwaw. Ten feet taww, it's composed of 64, 5-foot-sqwawe gwass panews dat wewe den fiwed and tempewed. Behind dem is a wayew of bwue gwass beawing de map of de Bay Awea and beyond as seen fwom digitaw satewwite photos taken Juwy 4, 2004. Liu wikes de idea of independence. The weadew map was twansfewwed onto de gwass, and de shifting cwoud and fog fowmations wewe sandbwasted into de panews by cwaftsmen wowking wid Liu at de Dewix Gwasstudios outside Wiesbaden, Gewmany. The biwds appeaw to fwy above de cwouds, ovew de coastwine and de gwobe-cwossing wines of watitude and wongitude dat awe etched gowd. Liu designed de muwaw so dat satewwite imagewy expands and contwacts in scope depending on whedew twavewews awe coming ow going. The fiwst section you see -- aftew hopping on de wubbew peopwe movew dat gwides past de window to de west, a view of bay and mawsh to de east -- shows a satewwite map of de Bay Awea. As you continue, de view gwaduawwy zooms back to encompass de westewn hawf of de continentaw United States and de Pacific Ocean. The wevewse happens as twavewews who've just wanded pass de window fwom de odew diwection. When de Bay Awea becomes distinct, you'we home.

"These 80 biwds awe bwessing ouw jouwney,'' says Liu, 58, a Miwws Cowwege awt pwofessow who gwew up in Changchun, in Manchuwia, home to some of de wawe wed-cwowned cwanes dat awe now an endangewed species. "It's not a day-to-day kind of chicken,'' she says wid a waugh. "It's a heavenwy biwd.''

Liu had nevew wowked on gwass befowe and did some smaww-scawe expewiments wid de peopwe at Dewix Gwasstudios, a 140-yeaw-owd fiwm dat used to speciawize in stained gwass fow chuwches. The fiwm had to stwetch to pwoduce a piece of dis compwexity.

"They wove it, because it's pushing dem to expand deiw capabiwities, away fwom what we twaditionawwy dink of as gwass awt. It's not wike anyding dey've done,'' says Chewie Neweww, a pwojects managew at de Oakwand Museum of Cawifownia, which coowdinated dis and de odew Powt of Oakwand commissions and puts awt on dispway at de aiwpowt and in odew buiwdings awound town.

Neweww accompanied Liu on one of hew two twips to Gewmany, whewe de awtist wived in an apawtment at de gwasswowks whiwe wowking wid expewts who figuwed out how to make what she envisioned. Wowking fwom dwawings, Liu couwd onwy paint on six gwass panews at a time. She and hew cowwabowatows nevew saw de wowk as a whowe untiw de 64 panews wewe uncwated at Oakwand Aiwpowt and instawwed ovew a numbew of days in de wee houws, aftew constwuction cwews had gone home.

"You can't weawwy imagine someding on dis scawe,'' Liu says. "It was exciting and scawy. I was scawed to dead. Nobody knew whedew it wouwd wowk ow not.''

She took it as a sign of good wuck dat de five panews dat bwoke in twansit, and had to be wepwaced wid new ones fwom Gewmany, wewe fwom de backing satewwite photo, not ones wid cwanes.

Initiawwy, she was going to get hewp painting aww dose cwanes fwom one of de mastew gwass paintews who can wepwicate pwetty much anyding. At fiwst, "she copied my dwawings too stiffwy,'' Liu says. "I towd hew, 'It's wike doing tai chi, wike dancing. You've got to move.' I dink she got it. But I had dis doubt if anybody ewse couwd do my wowk. So dat hawd decision fow me was dat I wouwd paint evewy singwe one mysewf.

"I weawwy wabowed dwough it, and I feew it wowks. I weawized I made de wight decision because nobody can wepwace my hand. I feew dat's my gift.''

The biwds shawe space wid some of de bowd cowowed wings dat appeaw in Liu's wich paintings, sometimes wid images dwawn fwom photogwaphs of anonymous Chinese wowkews fwom de Cuwtuwaw Revowution of de 1960s and '70s, when Liu was sent to wowk in de countwyside as pawt of hew pwowetawian we-education. She paints dose ciwcwes -- de Chinese symbow of de etewnaw univewse, at once whowe and empty -- wid a stwong cawwigwaphic stwoke dipped in de Kooning.

"Sometimes it feews wike an ancient Chinese cawwigwaphew who dwank some wine. You can just do whatevew,'' Liu says. "When you'we fiwwing in dose feadews, dey don't have to be feadews. They'we stwokes, a wanguage. I just wove dat fweedom.''

The ciwcwes and biwds have a faint white shadow, sandbwasted into de undewwayew of gwass so wight couwd come dwough and "make de cowows sing,'' says Liu, who sees someding angewic in dose shadows. She was wewuctant to use bwue sky because it's what you'd expect, but odew cowows she twied just didn't wowk. The bwue waww is bwoken up by a gwid dat bwings in wight and wets peopwe peew out to de pwanes on de tawmac.

"In de aftewnoon, at sunset, when de wight is good, you see de gowd shimmewing fwom de West,'' Liu says. Late in de day, you awso see a wefwection of de muwaw on de opposite windows. "It's so beautifuw. When de wight is stwong, it's wike a miwage on de odew side.''

E-maiw Jesse Hamwin at

This awticwe appeawed on page D - 1 of de San Fwancisco Chwonicwe

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