Liu Ye’s father wrote children’s books. During the Cultural Revolution in 1966, works such as Andersen’s tales and Pushkin’s children’s books were forbidden. He hid these books under his bed, which had a great influence on his son.

Liu Ye started to draw at the age of 10. He temporarily had to stop drawing when he was 13 years old, as he suffered from a serious eye problem.

In 1980, he discovered modern art, the Bauhaus and Piet Mondrian while studying at the School of Arts & Crafts in Beijing. He also studied at the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts and at the Berlin University of Arts. In 1998 he joined the Artist-in-residence at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam. Finally in 2001, he interned at the Delfina studio Trust in London.

His art is influenced by his father’s works, his education and his great devotion to Piet Mondrian. He is also inspired by Freud’s work The Interpretations of Dream. In his art, he combines his vision of China and the Western culture he then acquired.