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SISSI WHO?
Dr. Sissi Wuyong Liu (pronounced SEE-see Woo-YONG LYOH) is a painter, composer, and design scholar dedicated to “Designturgy” – a framework that treats design not as a static look, but as an active, living force of performance.
Her forthcoming book, Designturgy: The Play of Design (Bloomsbury), maps ancient elemental cycles onto contemporary fashion and technology. It explores how we inhabit and interact with the world through the “play” of wearables – from the nuances of makeup and couture to the integration of Artificial Intelligence in dress.
She holds a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from The Graduate Center, City University of New York, with a Doctoral Certificate in Interactive Technology and Pedagogy (a.k.a. Digital Studies), was trained as a composer at The Juilliard School, and is a RISD-certified designer. This rare combination of academic rigor, formal musical training, studio practice, and digital fluency allows her to bridge the gap between ancient philosophies, world-class artistry, performance theory, and the future of design technology.
As a composer-lyricist and dramaturg, her work has been featured at Carnegie Hall, Joe’s Pub, the Times Square Alliance, among others. Her paintings are held in permanent collections across several continents. Having taught at the City University of New York and Brown University for a combined decade, Dr. Liu has published in leading journals such as Theatre Journal and Performance Research.
Sissi Wuyong Liu is an artist-scholar dedicated to a life beyond categorization – a philosophy rooted in her Chinese name, Wuyong (浯镛/“无用”). While it translates literally as “uselessness,” it draws from the Daoist wisdom of Zhuangzi: the idea that what the world deems “useless” often possesses the greatest spiritual and creative value.
For Sissi, this “uselessness” is a liberation. Her intellectual world ranges freely across rocket science, the fragrance chemistry of plants, and the timeless glaze of Song Dynasty porcelain. This unflagging inquiry into both the material and the digital is more than academic; it is a way of life.
This curiosity is matched by a deep commitment to service. Having volunteered with global NGOs to combat poverty and supported schools for children with disabilities, Sissi translates her compassion into tangible action. She continues this mission today by donating a percentage of all proceeds from her work to wildlife and reforestation efforts – honoring the ancient elemental cycles she writes about by advocating for the majestic and the marginalized alike.
Sissi hopes to plant hidden seeds of love and inspiration within every person her work reaches – whether through the written word, a stroke of the brush, or the swell of a song. She believes in the magical capacity of art, aided by technology, to change the course of a life.
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