Pan Jian presents his most recent series of 2015, Shadow of Light. A continuation of his exploration of shadow, the artist distills the relationship between light and dark to its purest form, resulting in an arresting body of work that challenges the viewer’s eyes to adjust to the dim silhouettes and wander through the monochromatic night-time scenes. Pan Jian’s artistic process first draws inspiration from actual landscapes, gradually transforming what he has seen into the imagined scenes that he presents on each canvas. The landscapes are therefore both real and imagined, a dichotomy that is reflected in the concept that although a shadow has no tangible content, the image presented is still able to move the viewer, provoking an emotional response.

Drawing inspiration from traditional Chinese landscape paintings, Pan Jian’s nightscapes are striking in their detail and meticulous brushwork. Pan Jian is unique in his ability to provide both a contemporary style of Chinese landscape painting as well as being reminiscent of the work of the Chinese literati, or scholar-artists, whose landscapes represented a retreat from the burdens of daily life. Each painting is an invitation by Pan Jian to take sanctuary in the dusky forest scenes, questioning the viewer’s sense of illusion and reality and drawing on a person’s natural curiosity to decipher the images set before them.

About the artist

Pan Jian (b. 1975 Shandong) is a young and committed painter who currently lives and works in Beijing & Xi’an. He graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Xi’an Academy of Fine Art where he is now a teacher. His work is included in numerous collections including the DSL collection, The Uli Sigg Collection, The Yuz and is well supported by the Yuz Foundation in Jakarta.