Introduction

Lv Yan (b. 1981, Tangshan, Hebei Province) graduated from the Oil Painting Department, Studio 4, at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, in 2005. He currently lives and works in Beijing. Rather than evolving from explicit intent, Lv Yan's paintings are guided and revealed inadvertently, allowing his works to manifest the materiality of objects and a semi-conscious state. Employing a primal, bodily language, his practice narrates rupture and pain, preserving a potent 'corporeality' within brushstrokes and smudges that shelters the individual's capacity to persistently feel within fissures. His works imbue natural imagery with a distinctive poeticism and rhythm, capturing the moment between manifestation and disappearance. The directness and fluidity of charcoal, pastel and ink further amplify this visual logic, which unfolds organically. Lv Yan seeks to trace the creative act back to instinct, thereby rebuilding trust in perception. This process reveals a simple, biological form of silent resistance — a path of endurance imbued with warmth.