Liu Ren (刘韧) was born in 1980 in Qinghuangdao, a seaside town in China’s northeastern Hebei province. In 2007, she graduated with a Master of Arts in Photography and Digital Media from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China, where she is now a professor of CAFA’s Photography Department. Liu’s works of creative photography are multilayered in visuals and meaning, as she draws on her own experiences, emotions and dreams for inspiration.

Using advanced software, she often overlays colorful animals and flora over images of Beijing’s cityscape, imparting her dreams and memories onto reality. While some of her pictorial fantasy lands lean towards the melancholy, her work contains an underlying and unwavering sense of whimsy, nostalgia, and wonder.

Liu Ren held solo exhibitions in China, Korea, The Netherlands. Her works have been also featured in numerous exhibitions in around Belgium, Italy, The United States,  Switzerland, Canada among others.

Her works can be found in National Art Museum of China in Beijing,  in Museum Jan van der Togt in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as in art collections  of various galleries around the world.

Liu Ren received numerous excellence awards in national and international photography  competitions namely Silver Award winner at Asia ArtZoo Competition in 2011, the First Prize Winner at Photography Exhibition at the French Cultural Center in China  in 2006, New Person Prize at China Pingyao International Photography Festival 2006 among others.