Speaking with G.E. Liu about her show “Good Hearts” at Goldfinch Gallery might be one of the only conversations that touches on both shoujo anime and French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan. Liu, an artist based in Taiwan, wants to make work that has “a dark narrative with a cute color palette” drawing from themes of womanhood, sexuality, consumerism and desire—just in time for Valentine’s Day before the show closes on February 24.
Lacan, who studied desire and its effects on human psychology in the 1950s and sixties, is a “supporting force” for Liu’s creative studies. “Desire is a problem without a solution. It’s not just about you buying Gucci or Louis Vuitton, but about the fact that we’ll consume anything we can,” Liu explains. “We consume love. You turn on the radio and it’s just love songs all day long, or reality shows like ‘The Bachelor’ or ‘Love is Blind.’ There was a scholar of Lacan that said ‘Every demand we make is ultimately a demand for love.'” Read full article
