“Because we were an immigrant family and I am first-generation, I always had this imbalance of belonging,” Liu told Arsty in a new interview. “I think at first it was the language barrier, not speaking English, but then it started becoming about how I look. I think that art helps evaluate some of the psychology of yourself as a child, and to illuminate some things you may never have understood.”

Liu’s work runs the gamut of oil paintings and photography – mostly of New York streetscapes and skylines snapped over her many years spent living in the city – to collages and other mixed media work. In January, she celebrated her first museum exhibition titled ‘Unhomed Belongings’ at the National Museum of Singapore.

The paintings on display weren’t for sale – which is a shame because I want to buy as many as I can to hang them on my walls immediately. (Not that they are even remotely in my budget – The Hollywood Reporter says that they retail for between $10,000 and $50,000, so that’s me out of the picture.) But they were for examination. Liu told Artsy that she was overwhelmed by the network of visitors who came to see her work. “It made me feel very connected,” she said.