Lin Yan is a leading figure in contemporary art, celebrated for her innovative use of Xuan paper - redefining traditional materials through a global lens. Lin was born in 1961 into a Beijing artistic family. Her grandfather, Pang Xunqin (1906-1985), and grandmother, Qiu Di (1906-1958), were the first generation of oil painting pioneers in China's Modernist Movement in 1920s. Pang studied at L’École nationale supérieur des Beaux-Arts in Paris, while Qiu studied in Japan. They were among the first group of art students under Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940) to study abroad, founding Storm Society and being acclaimed as "Father of Chinese Avant-Garde Art," introducing Bauhaus architecture and design concepts to China. Subsequently, Pang founded Central Academy of Arts and Crafts (currently Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University). Lin Yan's father, Lin Gang, studied sketch and oil painting in Russia in 1950s for six years, and her mother, Pang Dao (1934-2025), was among the first group of professors from Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing to study in France in the 1980s, delving into abstract and modernist explorations.
Lin Yan studied in oil painting department of Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1980, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984. In 1985, she went to France to study at Atelier of Technique of Painting, L’École nationale supérieur des Beaux-Arts in Paris for a year, and in 1989, she obtained a Master's degree in art studio at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in USA. She currently resides in New York.
Lin started using Xuan paper as her primary medium by 2005, creating sculptural works that meditate on tranquility through soft, crumbled layers. Her practice negotiates contrasts—black ink and white paper, hard and soft textures, darkness and light—as seen in early pieces such as those from her 2008 solo exhibition at China Square New York, Remaking. Since the 2010s, Lin has expanded into site-specific installations, responding to architectural spaces with works like Embracing Stillness (2013) at New York’s Flatiron Prow Art Space, Sky (2013) at Beijing’s Yuan Art Museum, Beyond Xuan Paper (2014) at Brussels’ The Associazione Culturale Officina and Sky 2 (2017) at Sydney’s White Rabbit Gallery. Through layered imagery and lyrical forms, her works invite viewers to contemplate ecological impermanence and inner tranquility—a meditation on humanity’s fragile yet enduring bond with the natural world.
Lin has exhibited internationally with notable solo and group exhibitions: Clouds Gathering and Unfolding—An Exhibition of Modern Chinese Art on Paper, Ichihara Lakeside Museum, Japan, 2020; The Dark Matters, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, 2017; Embracing Stillness, Flatiron Prow Art Space, New York, 2013; New York Beijing, Here There, Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, 2013. Her works are held in major collections, including the National Art Museum of China, Museum of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Today Art Museum, Beijing; Long Museum, Shanghai; Chengdu Contemporary Art Museum, Chengdu; Deutsche Bank Art Corporate Citizenship, New York; and White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney.
