Chinese painter forges inimitable style after decades abroad

Born in the famous historical city of Xi'an in Shaanxi, Chinese ink and wash painter Wang Xiaoyan studied and lived in Japan for over two decades, where she earned a diploma from the Tokyo University of the Arts. Inheriting ideas and techniques from old classics while also trying to break conventions has defined her career for decades.

Wang's father Wang Ziwu is also a widely acclaimed painter. Under his guidance, she started learning to paint at five years of age. "My first memories of him as a young child are of him painting every day. He didn't talk much, but he would often paint for long periods," Wang recalled. She describes her father as her first and most important teacher.

Encouraged by her father, Wang not only studied the ink-wash techniques of Chinese painting but also facsimiled numerous Western works as she experimented with various Western techniques.

"Wang Xiaoyan gained a deep understanding of the artistic traditions of Chinese painting through her father's guidance and mentoring. Her use of brushes, ink and color represents the artistic accomplishments of traditional Chinese painting," said Fan Di'an, Chairman of the China Artists Association.

Wang learned the style of painting with heavy coloring when she studied at the Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts. She even went to Yongle Palace to copy the ancient murals there. While sticking to the techniques of traditional Chinese painting, Wang also dipped her toe in Western approaches. "I liked very much the techniques of some Western artists while I was in college. As such, I learned from the paintings of Joan Miró and Gustav Klimt. Their paintings are all very decorative. That's a style I tried to imitate."

At the end of the 1980s, Wang went to Japan, hoping to establish her career in a foreign land. She visited many galleries and art museums and was impressed by the way pigments were used in Japanese paintings. The techniques are akin to the claborate-style and heavy coloring techniques seen in Chinese paintings. But over the centuries, Japan gradually developed its own distinctive style.