Impressed by the colorful water in Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan Province, China, Liu invented his zimo technique. Spraying water, ink, and colors on a large sheet of tracing paper and allowing them to mix spontaneously, he then laid another sheet on the top. When the two sheets adhered, the elements in between seemed to transform into rippling water. The artist then separated the two sheets, cropping and editing to make this fantastical and ethereal image.

© The Liu Kuo-sung Archives, photo: Maurice Aeschimann, Geneva