Xiaojing Yan Explained

Xiaojing Yan (simplified Chinese 闫晓静, last name is Yan) is a contemporary Chinese Canadian artist known for her work in sculpture, installation and public art.[1]

Xiaojing Yan
Native Name:闫晓静
Native Name Lang:zh
Birth Date:1978
Birth Place:Jiangsu, China
Nationality:Chinese Canadian
Education:Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Occupation:Contemporary artist
Years Active:2007-present

Early life and career

Xiaojing Yan (born 1978, Jiangsu, China) received her Bachelors in Decorative Art from Nanjing Arts Institute in 2000. In 2004 she received degree from George Brown College and in 2007 she received an MFA degree in sculpture from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, United States.[2]

As an artist migrating from China to North America, both her identity and her work pass through the complex filters of different countries, languages, and cultural expectations.[3] Yan has exhibited at Maison Hermès Shanghai,[4] Suzhou Museum, Royal Ontario Museum,[5] Varley Art Gallery, TRUCK Contemporary Art, Calgary; Plug In Contemporary, Winnipeg; Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey; Varley Art Gallery in Markham. Her work was featured at Toronto International Art Fair in 2012 and 2014.

Yan was commissioned by Hermès to design the 2019 summer window [6] for Maison Hermès in Shanghai accompanied by her solo exhibition in the Maison.[7] In 2021, Hermès commissioned her to create “Emergence” a permanent installation for the new store in Shanghai.[8]

Work

"Yan's poetic explorations delve into the meaning of spirituality and the transformation of self. Yan draws on personal experience from her earlier life in China and eventual immigration to Canada in reimagining these traditional visual languages through a contemporary perspective."[9] In her 2018 exhibition In Suspended Silence, at the Richmond Art Gallery in British Columbia, Canada, "Yan combined two bodies of work that derive from classical Chinese ink wash painting and portrait sculpture." "It is through the use of traditional Chinese materials and art-historical references that her work navigates a transformative space between culture and identity. "[10]

Lingzhi Girl” #10, one of Yan's iconic works, made the cover of Art in America March 2022 issue.[11] This series of evocative figures of human and animal forms inspired by Chinese mythology and folktales. Yan cultivate lingzhi mushroom sculptures form the mould she created through a painstaking, suspenseful experiment by mixing the mushroom spores and woodchips together and incubating the blend in a specially constructed mold. Carefully controlling humidity, temperature and light, a lingzhi mycelium starts to grow and once it has assumed the proper shape and a viable state, the mold is removed. The fragile sculpture, with its mushroom surface, continues to evolve. No longer controlled by the artist but assuming a form determined by nature, it might be considered a collaboration classified as a combination of art, science experiment, and natural process. “In this series, Yan's investigations, in which metaphoric and physical worlds quietly interpenetrate each other, delve into the meaning of spirituality and metamorphoses, as well as raising other questions about being and becoming through the lens of art and nature, art and science, art and culture and their interconnections. ” - Lilly Wei[12]

Solo exhibitions

Select group exhibitions

Public art

Awards

Yan is the recipient of the 2014 Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the 2013 Mandarin Profile Awards of Fairchild TV and The Chalmers Arts Fellowship.[46]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: XIAOJING YAN. Council. Markham Arts. markhamartscouncil.com. 21 April 2017.
  2. Web site: Xiaojing Yan bio. Lonsdale Gallery.
  3. Web site: Grotesque and beautiful creatures featured in Vancouver Biennale show . Vancouver Sun . Kevin . Griffin . 2018-09-12. en. 2019-03-08.
  4. Web site: 新浪时尚 . 2019-07-12 . 梦之秘境暨上海"爱马仕之家"夏季橱窗与闫晓静艺术展揭幕 . 2022-04-28 . fashion.sina.com.cn.
  5. Web site: Tiger's Embrace . 2022-04-28 . Royal Ontario Museum . en.
  6. Web site: 上海"爱马仕之家"夏季橱窗及闫晓静艺术展揭幕_创作 . .
  7. Web site: Dreamland at Hermès Maison .
  8. Web site: 耿元 . 2021-10-29 . 爱马仕上海恒隆广场专卖店焕新启幕 以匠心格调诠释东方情缘 . 2022-04-28 . ELLE China . zh-cn.
  9. Web site: In Suspended Silence. 2018-09-14. Richmond Art Gallery. en-US. 2020-04-03.
  10. Web site: Xiaojing Yan and Wen-Li Chen: Between Worlds. Wong. Helen. Art Practical. en. 2020-04-03.
  11. Web site: Watlington . Emily . 2022-03-01 . Bio Art: Interspecies Collaborations + Sculpting with Mushrooms + Art for Octopi . 2022-04-28 . ARTnews.com . en-US.
  12. Web site: "Pines, Needles, Mushrooms, Ink, Paint: A Botanical Rhapsody" by Xiaojing Yan Opens at Gallery 456 . 2022-04-28 . ArtfixDaily . en.
  13. Web site: Exhibition CAAC . 2022-04-28 . www.caacarts.org.
  14. Web site: Dreamland at Hermès Maison. www.hermes.cn. en. 2019-08-07.
  15. Web site: INTO THE DREAMS. 2019-07-11. mp.weixin.qq.com. 2019-08-07.
  16. Web site: Xiaojing Yan: A Wanderer's Mind. Art Gallery of Northumberland. en-US. 2019-08-07.
  17. Web site: In Suspended Silence. 2018-09-14. Richmond Art Gallery. en-US. 2019-08-07.
  18. Web site: Exhibition - Special Exhibition - SUZHOU MUSEUM. www.szmuseum.com.
  19. Web site: Look closer! You'll never guess what this incredible, ethereal artwork is made of CBC Arts. Collins. Leah. November 20, 2017. CBC Arts. en. 2019-03-07.
  20. Web site: Out from among the Tranquil Woods. Rodgers. Margaret. Canadian Art. en-US. 2019-03-07.
  21. Web site: Xiaojing Yan at the Varley Art Gallery. www.akimbo.ca. en-us. 2019-03-07.
  22. Web site: Hybrid Vigour - The Latcham Gallery. latchamgallery.ca. 21 April 2017.
  23. Web site: "Xiaojing Yan" by Rodgers, Margaret - Sculpture, Vol. 35, Issue 8, October 2016 .
  24. Web site: Xiaojing Yan's Cloud Cell / Read Head Gallery - ARTORONTO. artoronto.ca. 21 April 2017.
  25. Web site: NEW GROWTH – BREATH IN UNISON - XIAOJING YANOttawa School of Art / École d'Art d'Ottawa. artottawa.ca. 21 April 2017.
  26. Web site: Truck - Contemporary Art in Calgary. truck.ca. 21 April 2017.
  27. Web site: XIAOJING YAN, INNOCENCE & EXPERIENCE - August 21 – September 28, 2014 - LONSDALE GALLERY. lonsdalegallery.com. 21 April 2017.
  28. Web site: A Grasp of Shadows - Xiaojing Yan. redheadgallery.org. 21 April 2017.
  29. Web site: 2011 Exhibits – Glenhyrst - Brantford, ON. glenhyrst.ca. 21 April 2017.
  30. Web site: Bridge - Artspace. artspace-arc.org. 21 April 2017.
  31. Web site: Jude Abu Zaineh, Soheila Esfahani, Xiaojing Yan - The Art of Living . 2022-04-28 . Canadian Cultural Centre – Paris . en-CA.
  32. Web site: Resistance and Resilience: An online exhibition . 2022-04-28 . Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery . Dawson College . en-US.
  33. Web site: Shaping Time Latcham Art Centre. www.latchamartcentre.ca. 2020-03-05.
  34. Web site: Regina Public Library. www.reginalibrary.ca. 2020-03-05.
  35. Web site: Myseum Intersections: Convenience. Myseum. en-CA. 2020-03-05.
  36. Web site: Into You: Fall in Deep Humber Galleries. www.humbergalleries.ca. 2020-03-05.
  37. Web site: 2012. The Art Gallery of Mississauga. en-CA. 2020-03-05.
  38. Web site: (Da bao) (Takeout) April 6 to June 2, 2013. 2013-04-06. Plug In ICA. en-US. 2020-03-05.
  39. Web site: (Da bao)(Takeout). Surrey. City of. www.surrey.ca. en-US. 2020-03-05.
  40. Web site: 2010-05-25. Public Art Inventory. 2021-12-04. en.
  41. ROM Year in Review 2016. ROM Year in Review.
  42. Web site: SOUND OF THE RAIN XIAOJING YAN. 2021-12-04. en-US.
  43. Web site: Nature's Bounty XIAOJING YAN. 2021-12-04. en-US.
  44. Web site: Moon Gate. 2021-12-04. CODAworx. en-US.
  45. Web site: Reflection XIAOJING YAN. 2021-12-04. en-US.
  46. Web site: Chalmers Arts Fellowships. 2023-09-03.
  47. Web site: 2021 InStyle Women Increation Prize女性创造力大奖在上海隆重揭晓_代表作品_领域_艺术 . 2022-04-28 . www.sohu.com . en.
  48. Web site: OAAG online: Ontario Association of Art Galleries website. oaag.org. 2019-08-07.