Throughout his life Liu Kang worked on various painting styles to create an East-West art. As an artist he trained in Shanghai and Paris, in Chinese ink painting as well as modern Western painting. Liu and his peers strove to make a modern expression of art that was local, but also reflected the heritage that they had come from. Liu found his way by painting local subjects using Western oil painting techniques. His scenes of the people and cultural life of Bali as well as of Singapore and Malaya were the outcome for much of his career. 

In his later years, Liu travelled to China, visiting the gorgeous Huang Shan range. His new inspiration resulted in a large series of Huang Shan works. The vertical format is based on Chinese painting style, whilst Liu has painted the mountains using oils. 

Another Huang Shan work by Liu from 1989 depicts his teacher Liu Haisu painting the much-loved mountains. The piece is in the collection of the Singapore Art Museum.