Featured Artist

Jiaxuan Yi was born in China and attended Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in 2010, receiving a B.A. in Painting and an M.A. in Drawing Research. His work ranges across several genres, including portraits, figures, still life, landscapes, Chinese paintings and Chinese calligraphy. As a practitioner of Chinese calligraphy from an early age, Jiaxuan Yi exhibited his Chinese calligraphy and paintings in Guangzhou and won many prizes in national youth competitions. During his university days, he received multiple scholarships and awards for both his graduation project and thesis. In recent years, Jiaxuan Yi is recognized in the contemporary art scene across many countries like the USA, the UK and Canada. He has not only won international awards like the CollexArt Sponsored Artist Website Award in 2021, the CollexArt Artist Profile Page Award in 2022, and the Select Fifty Award in the 24th Annual International Portrait Competition organized by the Portrait Society of America, but has also gained recognition from world-renowned professional and academic institutions, with his works selected for annual exhibitions organized by the Allied Artists of America, and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, and the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts in the UK. Moreover, his artworks have been published in Canadian contemporary art magazines such as Artistonish and Observica.

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Artist Statement

Emotion is the essential thing in my work. It is an intense drive that motivates me to search for, understand and express humanity. Most of my works are inspired by my everyday experience which may often be little trifles or incidents, but a fleeting impression from life can develop into a deep emotion. My representational work probably has more in common with Wild Cursive Chinese calligraphy than might at first appear. When I work, I often start in a haphazard way, then distort some space and shapes, apply brushwork, splash colors and oil, and so on. Thus, I rebuff the idea that my works are merely a faithful rendering of particular scenes. In my pursuit of emotions, the visual forms have become emancipated from the canvas and gained a life of their own.

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