Carol Liu is a Chinese-Canadian painter whose figurative oil portraits explore the depth of human emotion, shaped by her love of cinema, existentialist thought, and the layered relationship between self and culture. Born in Shanghai and raised in Toronto, she carries the richness of both places into paintings that feel photographic yet deeply personal — composed yet alive — quietly transforming the everyday into something profoundly human.
When I first encountered Carol Liu’s work, I was reminded of the kind of compositions you might find in a Vermeer painting or in the framing of a film — scenes that take you from the everyday into an in-depth view of life. In her work, it’s not just technical mastery that holds you, but the subtle sparks of genuine presence — the feeling of stepping closer into someone’s inner world.
-Written by Mevin Runganaikaloo, Curator & Friend
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Which ’hood are you in?
I live in the Mile End in Montréal! I’ve lived here ever since moving to Montréal five years ago. I still remember it like it was yesterday — getting here in the thick of winter, knowing nobody. The community really took me in and made me feel right at home. I lived down the street from Dragon Flowers, and I remember the owner, Tammy, giving me some extra flowers for good energy as a welcome to the neighbourhood. It’s a beautiful community — very tight-knit and artistic. My studio is also in the middle of Mile End, so I’m pretty much always here, and I feel very lucky for that.
What do you do?
These days, I’m painting and writing (though not necessarily publishing it). I’ve always been a firm believer that creative people often have multiple outlets or mediums — we just get pigeonholed or forced into choosing one. I went to school for media, so sometimes I experiment with making videos, but it’s been a while since I’ve worked on a film. Painting is definitely what I spend the majority of my time doing now.
Community is also very important to me, so I founded a non-profit called Studio 12:12 that organizes art and cultural events. I host and attend lots of local art events — whether that’s art, music, fashion, etc. I’m blessed to be part of an incredible ecosystem of artists who support each other.
What are you currently working on?
I’m always working on multiple projects at once. Currently, I’m in the final stages of a painting based on an image of both my grandmothers. Most of my paintings deal with memory, identity, or time. Usually, I work with archival images, family photographs, or my own film photography.
This one is a meditation on the contrast between the old and new China — its rapid economic and cultural growth, which four generations of my family lived through. There are so many polarities converging in this present moment: collectivism and capitalism, frugality and purchasing power, classical virtues and new-money aesthetics. It’s an interesting moment in time for our culture.
After this, I’ll be working on a series exploring digital culture and social media. The internet, being our main source of visual imagery, has also become a place where images are layered, filtered, and contextualized. There’s a raw intimacy in sharing photos online, which would be fascinating to translate into painting — because with painting, we’re far more removed from the source image, and the process of distribution is slower, more deliberate.
I wonder if there’s a way to bring that intimacy and vulnerability from social media into painting. I’ve resisted exploring technology in my work because it already feels so imposing and caustic in our lives — but looking back, I think that resistance comes partly from avoidance.
Where can we find your work?
You can find me on Instagram or on my website.
