In Yan Ping’s paintings, one can sense a spiritual presence. Through a personalized approach to form, color, and space, the artist achieves a subjective transformation of reality. Her works not only explore formal visual language but also reflect a deep observation, perception, and expression of everyday life and human nature. The inaugural exhibition of Fangyuan Art Museum’s new space, Life Like Summer Flowers, showcases Yan Ping’s recent creations. Her floral-themed works, imbued with Symbolist undertones, capture the fleeting bloom of life and serve as a powerful release of the artist’s inner psyche and emotions.

Life Like Summer Flowers – Yan Ping Art Exhibition, Exhibition View at Fangyuan Art Museum

798ars: The exhibition “Life Like Summer Flowers” at Fangyuan Art Museum mainly presents your recently created flower series. What led you to focus intensively on plants and nature during this period? Could you share some background on the creation of these new works?

Yan Ping: Actually, I’ve been painting flowers on and off for many years. To me, flowers are something buried deep inside — they offer comfort and a sense of redemption. That’s why I rarely place them on a table just to admire. I only bring them into view when they’re about to enter the painting. They exist in a state between decay and eternity, with strong symbolism.

This time, I started painting flowers because I wanted to withdraw from the chaos of the outside world. So I went to Weihai. The air there is completely different from Beijing — when you step into a sunlit garden, all the noise of the world seems to fall away, and it feels like you can hear the flowers blooming. The flowers growing in the garden are very different from those you buy in shops — they grow upward with a sense of energy, covered in leaves, their heads tilted as if they’ve sprouted wings. I wanted to talk to them in a quiet, simple way.

I also have many cats in my courtyard, and fish in the sea nearby. When it rains, little spots appear on the ocean’s surface. All of this — the flowers, the sea, the rain — merged into the paintings. They’re really an expression of vitality. In facing my inner world, I wanted to be more unrestrained, less reserved — just like these flowers. That’s how this exhibition came to be. It’s about expressing the fleeting bloom and fading of life, without rejecting reality or beauty.

"Sweet Afternoon" Oil on canvas, 160 × 180 cm, 2022

798arts: In addition to your floral-themed works, this exhibition also presents several pieces featuring figures and landscapes. There seems to be a certain dialogue between them. Could you elaborate on that?

Yan Ping: Actually, when I paint plants, I often think of the desires and emotions found in literature and art. For instance, while working on one of the paintings, I was reminded of the film Lady Chatterley's Lover. The female protagonist is an elegant woman, but once her inner passion and individuality are ignited, she blossoms like a flower. So alongside the floral works, I also created paintings with human figures to express this kind of internal merging.

One of the paintings is called Listening to Mozart, and a smaller accompanying piece depicts a pianist’s hands. I felt that Mozart’s music has such rich layers—by that point, the lines in the painting no longer had much to do with flowers, but rather with music and rhythm. It conveys a feeling of contrast and harmony, like something always ready to take flight.

"Summer Drizzle", Oil on Canvas, 100×80 cm, 2022

I think this may have something to do with my inner yearning for freedom. For women, true freedom isn’t always easily available. I don’t reject the literary or poetic qualities in my paintings—there was a previous work that featured a large swan and a small swan. The large swan was about to spread its wings, but when it looked back and saw the smaller swan, it didn’t take flight. It’s like what The Second Sex discusses: a woman’s courage often exists within a certain boundary. It’s not that she can’tfly higher, but rather that there are emotional constraints. One of my paintings is titled Easily Touched My Heart—in it, a mother is deeply moved by the simple sound of her child tapping around. That precious feeling is something I want to preserve.

"Baby, What Are You Thinking?" Oil on canvas, 180 × 160 cm, 2022

798arts: In your paintings, there’s a noticeable compression of space, and the figures often appear quite flat. Could you share your thoughts on how you approach spatial treatment in your work?

Yan Ping: I believe that the history of fine art is essentially a history of vision—a progression from three-dimensionality to flatness. Take Picasso’s Guernica for example: it uses linear perspective, yet also contains areas that are highly flattened. But Picasso’s post-perspective flatness is different from the flatness we find in traditional Chinese painting. At the same time, I’ve noticed how artists like Munch, Van Gogh, and Chagall depict radiant suns in their works. These suns aren't just celestial bodies—they symbolize ascension, whether to the heavens or as a psychological expression. That’s why I make sure to retain a sense of perspective in my own work. To me, perspective carries the vitality of movement. It’s about the sense of form that emerges when something is in motion. Western perspective is a time-honored and admirable technique, and I think it deserves to be infused with new life. I’m also drawn to the structure of traditional Chinese painting—it’s like a nine-square grid: upper three, middle three, lower three. How you organize those layers, how you use line, how you compose the image—that’s Chinese perspective. So even though my paintings might appear flat on the surface, they actually contain a strong sense of spatiality. It’s just that the space isn't constructed through traditional representational depth—it’s a different kind of dimensionality.

"Lines of Reed Bamboo"Oil on canvas, 140×160 cm, 2022

798arts: Just like previous creations, this batch of new works also presents the richness and purity of colors, and as a whole, it has a bright and colorful visual effect. Does the application of colors correspond more to the expression of emotions? Could you share your thoughts on the issue of color?

Yan Ping: Actually, color in my paintings is a thematic color and can be regarded as a meaningful form in painting. However, I hope there is narration and a series of colors in it. Just as location is a proposition for sketching, so is color for me. For instance, if I take white as the topic, what I need to think about is how to explain it thoroughly through a series of colors. In my creations, colors also have spiritual expressions. Take literature as an example. Dark black sounds more sophisticated than bluish black. A girl with flax hair and a girl with yellow hair are two completely different descriptions. When describing colors in a way that carries a sense of beauty or personal spiritual inclination, they will naturally possess their own characteristics. However, in any case, making the colors meet your own needs and cultivating them is actually a very professional part. 

Some people will say my grey looks good, my color is very conspicuous, my color mixing process is really a waste...... I think the colors in many oil paintings are getting lighter and lighter. Especially nowadays, there are quite a lot of people learning the Oriental style or the popular simple style. But for me, color is also a kind of inner expression. Today we talk about green, tomorrow we talk about white, which is a kind of comfort to myself. So for me, color has both objective and purely visual needs as well as psychological needs.

"Light in the Heart" Oil on canvas, 180×200 cm, 2022

798arts: The shaping of forms in your paintings shows an expressive and freehand quality, with bold brushstrokes that further emphasize this characteristic. Could this be understood as highlighting the artist’s active role during the painting process?

Yan Ping: I actually really like Western Expressionism. Although I don’t have as strong a desire to change the world as some of those artists did, I do share that resolute, raw brushwork style in my heart. I’m drawn to things with power because they express human desire or dissatisfaction. When I painted Mother and Child, I wanted expressive brushstrokes because I felt the mother figure needed to embody strength, so I needed that kind of expressiveness.

Throughout Western art history, I’ve paid close attention to modernist artists at various stages—how they manifest their thoughts visually. Expressionism has always fascinated me because it intertwines the self, the world, and the artwork itself. At the same time, I really admire Classicism because it’s very rational. In terms of form, without firmness and structure, the painting can’t stand—there’s no expression or freehand style if the fundamentals are shaky. So the rational side of Classicism needs to be solid, not vague.

I simply love the brush and ink techniques of Chinese painting. I’ve been reflecting on where exactly this freehand style should be applied. What kind of surface brushwork rules make those mysterious dark ink spots land so precisely on the canvas, like an eagle swooping down to catch prey? I hope that the expressiveness and freehand style in my paintings are the result of my study and practice of both Western and Chinese art histories, culminating in the visual language I want to present.

"Looking at Spring" Oil on canvas, 180×200 cm, 2022

798arts: In fact, your personalized treatment of form, color, and space can be seen as a kind of transformation of reality. While this transformation reflects an exploration of formal language, does it also more deeply point toward a subjective expression of reality?

Yan Ping: If we compare life to a cross, the vertical line represents raw, untamed life, and the horizontal line represents spiritual choice. An artist must first possess that rough, wild vitality—grow like a wild plant—and then evolve into a spiritual being. Actors need to liberate themselves first, and painters face the same challenge. Painting requires sensitivity; otherwise, even with excellent technique, if you lack perception—or haven’t nurtured that ability—you won’t achieve much. The question is, are you expressing reality, or a spiritualized version of reality? If you’ve learned the language of art and also have strong perceptual ability, then you’re preserving your individuality well. When I worked on the pieces for this exhibition, I tried to temporarily forget technical terms. If a person loses spiritual pursuit, they become adrift. Lately, I’ve been thinking about painting people again, but I’m not sure where to begin. The world has changed so much. Once, figures could represent themes like opera, ballet, or emotion, but now these no longer feel urgent in people’s hearts. Reality truly has a powerful impact on the human spirit. I hope to find a good entry point—something that makes the act of painting feel meaningful again.

"Laying Sod" Oil on canvas, 180 × 200 cm, 2022

798arts: Before starting a painting, do you usually have a predetermined vision of the final result? Or do you leave more possibilities to emerge during the creative process?

Yan Ping: Actually, every artist has their own method of working. I lean more toward the former approach—having a sense of the overall picture. The motivations behind a painting for me are often rooted in human emotions and the unfolding of new life, or in images themselves. I believe images carry emotion; they can spark your curiosity and desire. Once I’ve decided on the subject, I begin collecting reference materials, then move on to composition and conceptualization, thinking about how to make the work more personal—through color palette, imagery, and so on. I may also arrange for a model, because the process of painting from life is extremely important for an experienced artist. It’s a way of observing both the model and human nature itself. This process is essential for imbuing the painting with spirit and vitality. There’s very little randomness in my working process, but the "feeling" is still crucial. Methodology also matters—a different approach can shift your focus and bring about a new visual language. Ultimately, the result is tied to a lifetime of effort. Mood can influence a painting a little, but I always make thorough preparations before I begin. Once I start, I must stay fully focused. 

No one can really see how much thought or how many revisions a painter has put into a work. For the artist, each painting contains new changes and new insights—not necessarily in terms of style, but through the spirit and various elements within the composition. In the end, painters must be devoted; they must observe the world with sharp eyes and treat painting seriously every single day. For me, creating art is not a game. Only when you rouse yourself fully does it become truly meaningful.

Interview by: Wang Wei
Images courtesy of: Fangyuan (Square Circle Gallery)