Featured Artist

Jiaxuan Yi is a Canada-based award-winning artist, focusing on oil portraiture, landscape, and calligraphy. His work is an attempt to break the traditional patterns of visual arts without rejecting their classical essence. He graduated with distinction from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, receiving a diploma in Fine Arts, a B.A. degree in Painting, and an M.A. degree in Drawing Research, after which he took PhD-level courses in art history and calligraphy to quest for knowledge. His works have been selected for exhibitions in professional and academic institutions across Canada and internationally, such as the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts in the UK. His recent awards include the RSMA Charles Pears Award, the RBSA Portrait Prize Exhibition Highly Commended Award, multiple awards from the Portrait Society of America, the Biafarin Award in the Open International Juried Exhibition of the Society of Canadian Artists, the CollexArt Sponsored Artist Website Award in 2021, and the CollexArt Artist Profile Page Award in 2022. Jiaxuan is an Elected Member of the Society of Canadian Artists, Ontario Society of Artists and Portrait Society of Canada.

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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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