Artist in her natural element

To learn the technique and get to know the art more deeply, Wu left Beijing in 2015 and took a master's course at Tama Art University in Tokyo. She learned about pigments, the modernization of mineral color painting and paper restoration, and never lost the desire to bring the forgotten art of China back home.

During her studies, she posted her process of learning and creating mineral art on social media platforms in China, and an increasing number of people began to take notice of Wu－known as Lianyang online－and her work.

Facing the criticism of "over-commercialization", Wu never considers commercial collaborations as a wrong choice. She believes that access to galleries and auctions is still not broad enough, and mineral color art could be trapped in an ivory tower.

"That's why I've crossed over with different industries, such as games, publishing and advertising, so that mineral color can 'break the circle' as quickly as possible, and more people, especially youths, can get to know it and see the many possibilities for its application," Wu says.

Wu formed a social group, and she has made mineral color painting known to more people through livestreamed lectures, a series of video courses, and in-person workshops.

One of Wu's videos received over 7 million views on Bilibili, a video-sharing platform in China, and gathered more than 20 million views across all online social media platforms.

She explains that people cannot see many of the details in a mineral color painting by looking at pictures, so she posted videos that recorded her painting process online, and gradually they began to receive massive attention.

"In recent years especially, the wave of cultural confidence and the national trend is encouraging the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese culture. I really look forward to seeing mineral color painting reach more people by riding that wave," she says, adding that she hopes she's always moving forward, directed by the trends and the times.