I have been interested in Liu Cong's works for a long time, but it is difficult to sum up his creative practice in a few words. At first I was surprised by his sensitivity to the nature of painting, and then the inter-dimensional interest of optical illusion was used to the maximum extent in his paintings. "rhythm", "hand" and "intellect" are all concealed in the shapes and colours above the objects, and the sense of restrained beauty becomes more and more prominent. Since graduating in 2010, in addition to his own natural talent, Liu Cong has returned to his personal values to re-examine art, and has been actively experimenting, advancing the depth of his creation step by step, which are all important factors for his attention and rapid growth in recent years.

Q: What are you focusing on in your latest phase of work?
A: Most of my works at this stage are not developed from a certain 'focus', the last three years have been more stable, I use indoor sketching to create works, usually for a longer period of time, which allows me to maintain the necessary concentration and sensitivity. There are some specific restrictions, such as refusing to use photographs, using the most basic painting tools and limited painting techniques. I am a bit paranoid about the involvement of the 'hand' and prefer to paint in a more difficult way for me. Some of my works have a strong direction, to achieve a certain feeling; others have an interconnection in shape or space, or meaning, in different ways, but overall I have put myself in a more stable and restrained, even "boring" state of creation in recent years.

Q: What are the characteristics you appreciate in a work?
A: I appreciate works that are "durable", they are not necessarily strong or direct at first glance, but can stand up to scrutiny. "Meaningful form" is not just a matter of form, and "likeness or unlikeness" is not just between images, there is a specific thought behind each feeling.

Q: The space you have created in the new series is extremely restrained, sometimes with some dislocation, which seems to be a continuation of your previous work, not obvious but not negligible?
A: In the last phase of the work, which was based on photographs, I reorganised the flat structure of the work by dividing the images, and the sense of dislocation in the collage enriched the feeling of looking at the painting and the meaning between the parts. In the current phase some of the assemblages retain this way of structuring the picture, removing the narrative content, the image is still concrete, but the feeling is more abstract, towards the abstract symbols realized in the concrete painting process. The removal of narrative content is a conscious choice, and I have retained the rational part of the pictorial logic of the previous phase of the work.
The restraint of space comes from my direct contact with the surface of the canvas, I see the process of giving paint to the surface as a kind of shaping of the sensation itself, somewhat similar to what Rothko or Malevich would call 'plasticity', but I do not do this from the point of view of the language of painting, the painter is dealing with a more integrated personal state within the process, the time and traces of the process, the personal intention. The time and traces of the process, the intentions of the individual, are confronted with the viewer in the form of language, where the possibility of communication exists. The works are not a medium for me to express myself, they are independent and parallel to me.

Q: Objects in your work seem to be more abstracted as a structural container of colour.
A: I am looking at the presence of the silhouette of the object in the picture as a structural container of colour. The spiritual properties of colour have to do with the symbolic nature of colour, but also with the everyday feelings of people. I use the three primary colours and black and white, more often, and most of the colours in my work have been repeatedly blended, and the process of blending is accompanied by changes in feelings. The pure colours are more symbolic, while grey is closer to the abstract 'real' for me and is more interesting, and I prefer grey colours in my daily life.