His current exhibition features different forms being transformed into two-and three-dimensional creations.

Wall of Men, a work at the Beijing show, occupies the wall and the ceiling of the exhibition hall with more than 600,000 paper-cuts of the "little red man".

The early success of the "little red man" won Lyu many invitations to exhibit abroad but also led to in-depth thoughts about his culture.

"For several years after 1992, I traveled by plane five to six times a year, feeling weary of the busy exhibition schedule," he recalls.

"Often I was asked to create works that would meet Westerners' preconceptions of Chinese art and artists. I felt like a side dish at a feast of Western culture. But looking back home, I saw a barren scene of home-grown culture. I felt we artists had no interaction with society."

He also wondered if his works had any value in China. As an artist he won applause in the West but saw little appreciation back home.

Lyu slowed down his pace of exhibiting in 2004. That year he became a founding professor of the experimental art department at Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts. He saw his new role as a chance to cultivate artists who can think and create more independently.