Shanlin Ye Reflection Series Featured at United Nations Exhibition

My work Refelection Series was featured at the United Nations show that opened August 4 organized by Eye Art International and sponsored by Lufthansa. This was the grand finale show after a tour of Asia. This was a controversial show because works from North Korea were secretly spirited out of the country and exhibited. Special thanks to Alex Zheng (郑昕宇) and Cai Chenlin (蔡陈林). 

Opening ceremony Aug 4 featuring work from Shanlin Ye's Reflection series. 

Reflection #5. Watercolor on paper. Shanlin Ye. 2017

Opening ceremony August 4, 2017

Reception at the United Nations August 4, 2017

Press from the show:

http://eyeartinteurnational.org/en/eyeart@un.php

https://www.pscp.tv/w/1gqxvOWQaRgKB

MOMA's Akili Tommasino: Paperworks 2017 Winners Exhibition

Juror's Statement by Akili Tommasino, Curatoral Assitant, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA): 

"Paperworks 2017 presents the achievements of an array of artists producing work on, with or about paper today. The exhibitors, who hail from across the United States, master a diversity of artistic mediums: drawing, printmaking, photography, collage, sculpture and video. Conventional illusionism and geometric abstraction coexist in exquisite drawings, prints and collages. Meticulously crafted woven, embossed or cut-paper compositions produce gracefully complex patterns. Sculptural uses of paper - in the round or as relief - subvert expectations, assert paper's architectural properties, and straddle humor and conceptual rigor. Highly individual visions are expressed poetic configuration manifest in photographs, watercolors and video. Digitally generated or manipulated imagery evinces the tremendous impact of in technology on art in all mediums. Whether the material features as support or subject, these selections demonstrate the vibrancy and diversity or artistic practices incorporating paper."

十七年蝉—纽约画展札记

“无论是古人图腾崇拜的蝉还是纽约的十七年蝉，它们都是生命轮回的象征，文化背景的不同导致我们的千差万别，但是对生命的赞美却又不谋而合。”

— 叶山林

前几日在纽约“On the Verge" 画展上，一对美国夫妻指着我的画，兴奋的问我：“你画的是我们这里每十七年才出来狂欢一次的蝉吗？”我十分不解，说“难道不是每年夏天都有出来欢歌的蝉吗？”他们连连摆手，“不，不，那些是普通的，我说的是那种在地下要蛰伏十七年才会出来一次的特别的家伙，它们出来的时候可是一大盛况哦！” 

我懵了，文化的差异又一次狭路相逢，激烈的碰撞了一下。我的画室坐落在圣路易斯郊区住所的地下室一隅，平时画画听到的是鸟语蝉鸣，看到的是郁郁山林，想到的是 “蝉噪林逾静，鸟鸣山更幽”。中国古代蝉文化历史悠久，古人把蝉蜕看作羽化成仙，寓有轮回之意的蝉纹最早出现在商周的青铜器上，汉代侍中以蝉为冠饰，取其居高食露，精洁可贵之意。可这个十七年蝉究竟是个什么东东？

原来这十七年蝉又名周期蝉，只出现在美国东海岸地区，是一种穴居十七年才能化羽而出的蝉。它们在地底蛰伏，每十七年一个轮回，规模巨大，盛况空前，几百亿只蝉一起破土而出，高歌狂欢，庆祝它们短暂而绚丽的最后数周的生命。一个土生土长的华盛顿人甚至会根据周期蝉来计算自己的生命，在十七年蝉于1970年再次出现后，美国摇滚歌星鲍勃·迪伦为它们的阵势所感动，于是写了一首歌《Day of the locusts》歌颂出世的这些蝉类的祖辈。

纽约人的意外解读令人欣喜不已，仿佛我的画又衍生出别的非同寻常的意义，我想无论是古人图腾崇拜的蝉还是纽约的十七年蝉，它们都是生命轮回的象征，文化背景的不同导致我们的千差万别，但是对生命的赞美却又不谋而合。而绘画始终是极具个人色彩的艺术，它私密得更像日记，承载着画者独特的个人经验和体悟， 我的《镜像系列》就是这样充满个人痕迹的作品，期待在具有不同视角和人生经验的观者面前呈现出别样的风景。

"On the Verge" Exhibit Opens June 17 at Jim Kempner Fine Art

Shanlin Ye presents work from her Reflection and Day Dreamer Series at a show at Jim Kempner Fine Art opening June 17. Here is what Shanlin has to say about her two series of works: 

"Day Dreamer is a series of figurative works featuring unusual scenes of individual lives, each depicting a sweet secret, hidden desire or wild fantasy in dreamy color. I sought to express the natural beauty of the female body in exuberant moments of daily life. I invoked watercolor in an attempt catch these ephemeral moments just as a sun-catcher does its work."

"Reflection is a series of works that explores the mysteries of the human face. These works are not about seeking realism or perfection, but rather the opposite: the coarse, imperfect, broken and aberrant. The portraits seek to engage emotions hidden from view, to reveal unseen and unexpressed parts of the human experience. I enjoy using watercolor for these images, as I am fascinated by the way color and water dance on paper, fluid and ungoverned, like a poem. Creating each portrait is a spiritual communication—I hope the viewer, too, can find a way to communicate with the personalities in these works. Perhaps, when you look at these faces, you will find some part of yourself: desire, vulnerability, toughness, rebellion."

Press Release