Liu Jianhua has been ceaselessly pushing the boundaries of ceramic sculpture since 1977, when he began working as an apprentice in the Jingdezhen Pottery and Porcelain Sculpture Factory, the oldest established centre of ceramic production in China. The Shape of Trace 2016–22 draws inspiration from the artist’s impressions and imaginations of museum collections around the world. Individually crafted and variously shaped ceramic fragments may appear to be relics or abstract traces of human civilisation. Realm of Reflections 2016–22 presented at Mugaksa, on the other hand, is inspired by Song Dynasty vessels and characteristics commonly found in them. They are typically related to spatial cognition and cosmology practised by the ancestors to achieve unity between nature and man. Composed of identically sized, glazed black shapes, the ceramic installation simultaneously illuminates and reflects the space at the exhibition. As viewers gaze into the work, their reflections are also cast on the ceramic surface, blurring the boundaries of object and subject, past and present.