Lin Yan

Born in Beijing in 1961, Lin Yan comes from a family of renowned artists. Her grandparents, Pang Xunqin and Qiu Di, were pioneers of Chinese modern art, while her parents, Lin Gang and Pang Tao, were influential figures in the development of oil painting and abstract expressionism in China.
Lin received her BFA in Oil Painting from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, in 1984. She continued her studies in Atelier of Technique of Painting at L’École national supérieur des Beaux-Arts in Paris before earning an MFA in Studio Art from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 1989. After settling in New York in 1993, she developed her artistic practice there for nearly three decades. Since 2020, she has returned to Beijing to care for her aging parents, continuing her creative practice through the intimate experiences of caregiving, loss, and remembrance.
Lin Yan uses traditional Chinese handmade xuan paper as her primary medium, transforming this ancient and humble material of calligraphy and painting into a contemporary artistic language. Through layered applications of ink and xuan paper, she creates works that combine painterly, sculptural, and architectural qualities, while her site-specific installations further expand the expressive possibilities of traditional materials within contemporary art. Rooted in Chinese philosophical principles of Dao fa ziran (following the natural way) and the unity of humanity and nature, her practice seeks a delicate balance between black and white, hardness and softness, lightness and weight, and emptiness and substance—resulting in a highly distinctive personal artistic language. In recent years, Lin’s work has become increasingly grounded in everyday experience and reflections on life. Her practice serves as a meditation on life, death, family, memory, and the passage of time.
Lin Yan has presented numerous solo exhibitions internationally. Her works are held in the collections of the White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney; the Deutsche Bank Art Collection, New York; the National Art Museum of China, Beijing; the Art Museum of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing; the Long Museum, Shanghai; and other major public and private institutions.