Rear Wave New Faces of New Painting（Line Gallery·Beijing） 2023.12.30 - 2024.02.20 PREFACE WORKS SCENE TEXT	□ A Choice between Loss and Hope --On Yan Shilin's Sculpture Huang Du Yan Shilin 's sculptures often focus on psychological issues and feelings related to youth and young people 's growth. The generation born in the 1980s in China, in the absence of an enshrouding grand political narrative, has been living in a fresh and stable society. Though unshackled of ideological constraints, the generation has to face up to the pressures from urbanization and market economy, as well as the accompanying shadows breeding emotions of loss, loneliness and sadness. Alike many artists born in the 1980s, Yan Shilin has no choice but to dodge the confusing reality to return directly to his internal world. Yan Shilin is different from the 1980s generation artists who enjoy a prevalent fresh and lovely aroma. Although Yan retains a thimbleful of such loveliness, he intentionally endows his works with more spiritual dimensions to express the sense of confusion, loss, suffering, loneliness, and sadness. The sense of sadness and anxiety, which have already implanted a grave attitude towards life for Yan, can be traced from his works even though childhood memories have been gradually fading out. His works repeatedly intensify that sense of vulnerability. The works bearing his personal memory and feeling, with their unique vivid narrative, abstract the self from hustle and bustle of real life to turn the self into a bystander observing the complexity of the real world. Yan relies more on the excavation of the inner self to represent the gap between the inner self and reality. The background or identity of the child or teenager in Yan 's sculptures cannot be easily traced, and what audience feel is more of a autobiographical imagination and self-expression. Both in terms of content and form, Yan fuses his personal psychology and other people 's feelings into his sculptural images to weave a both lovely and lonely atmosphere, triggering the emotional echo and philosophical thinking of audience. Therefore, in this sense, Yan 's sculptures heal in an artistic way. As can be observed, the subjective depoliticization in his sculptural language does not mean that there is no ideological depth. The artist 's perspective is hinted in the images of children and teenagers. The children and teenagers, as self-incarnation, are shaped into the a variety of innocent fairy-tale looks full of wordless language. The facial and body language of the children and teenagers contrast with today 's complex and chaotic social reality. If you gaze at his sculptures "Where the Flowers Are Blooming " and "The Castle in My Heart " (2012), you will immediately detect his implication -- the lack of security and symbol of seeking shelter. In "Where the Flowers Are Blooming, " the boy with his eyes wide open wears a frightened face. The branches surrounding his body are crooked subjectively to serve dual purposes -- as a decorative part of the sculpture, and also a symbol of the safe haven for the boy. Furthermore, the young fawn gazing upward at the boy seems to convey more connotations, and one of them is the alienation between animals and humans. Denser branches bind up the young boy carrying a rabbit in "The Castle in My Heart. " In " The Castle in My Heart ", different kinds of birds perch on the branches, and a rabbit on the ground also constitutes the whole picture. I believe that this sculpture fully discloses one 's personal feelings. Yan is familiar with the delicate relationship between the language of sculpture and space, and he manages to carve the images and their relationships with both preciseness and artistic weight -- Yan arouses the memory of childhood and sense of compassion of audience through the rendering of relationship between the boy and the branches, and between the boy and the animals. Obviously, one important feature of Yan Shilin 's sculptures is the reliance on the narratives, scenes, stories, relationships, logics, and attitudes from literature, and he further fuses the many elements to translate them into absurd and bizarre visual language. The binding of a kid with animal is an evocation of Yan 's subconsciousness from childhood memory, with examples including "Lord Peacock ", "Tender Is the Night ", "Prickly Pear ", etc. On the one side we find presentation of his instinctive nervosity, and on the other, the symbiosis of child or teenager with animals and/or plants more or less reflect man 's kind, friendly, and caring spiritual realm. Yan 's solo exhibition in Line Gallery in 2013 marks a change in his artistic road. In addition to single sculpture that he previously engaged in, Yan began to boldly inject dramaticism and installation art into his sculptures. In this way, the language of sculptures extends both in terms of language and form to fully demonstrate multi-dimensional scenarios. In comparison with his single sculptures, his works now analyze and deal with complex problems in terms of idea, language, and form. He skillfully grasps the delicate relationship between the whole and part, between big and small objects regarding the constitution of the work using postures and facial expressions of the youth and related objects, and the combination of ready-made and sculpture -- he is constructing unique significance with objects, motion, space, and time. In "Floral Warrior " (2013), the boy wearing a tiger-design hat riding on a deer stares attentively ahead with a spear in his hand. Their postures are shrouded by the pavilion woven by bent twigs. The stability of the pavilion obviously reinforces the sense of security, and in the meantime, the rabbit and birds in the pavilion add a sense of serenity. Apparently, the deer, as the center of audience 's gaze, is cast into a monument-style and horse-like stance with imposing grandeur. By doing this, Yan does not aim to pursue loftiness, but to perfect a self-woven world and to strike balance for the piece of art. In sharp contrast, "Liar Game " combines sculpture and installation. An egret stands at the bow of the hanging ready-made boat, and at the bottom of the boat audience would find a crawling giant crocodile. In this piece of art, the artist vividly captures the contradiction and conflict in the animal world, and present fully the tension between serene and tension, peacefulness and danger, and between life and death. His new work "Hunter " (2014), on the basis of "Liar Game ", captures the moment when the girl hunts the crocodile, an extended and upgraded presentation of the dramatic tension and danger. In the small sculpture "Boxer Girl " (2013), as a departure from the sculptures with a larger narrative scenario, Yan intentionally turns away from his customary fine sculptural techniques and adopts a rough artistic language to shape a cool and textured girl. Furthermore, the girl 's facial expression and posture reveals a sense of pain from to being scolded and treated coldly. Similarly, "Fortress Besieged " incorporates the dynamics of drama. A squatting boy wearing a rabbit-design hat catches a fox -- tempting audience to guess what will happen next. Therefore, the presentation of personal memory and life state by Yan Shilin 's sculptures fully explains his philosophy of life. In Yan 's eyes, all things are externalization or objectification of impulses of life, and he highlights that only the ones with the instinct to experience inner life can grasp the integrity of Life. As he stated, "all inspirations of my works come from my life. I do not care about political issues, nor do I like pop art forms. I just think about myself and other people 's lives and feelings as a human being, and take the baffling and uncomfortable issues as questions to discuss and solve them with audience and people who share the same concern. " His words further testify his attention on the consciousness of life. He sees artistic creation as a instinct and impulse of man. As the German philosopher Wilhelm Dilthcy (1833-1911) puts it, life is the origin of world. Life is not simply physical activity. Life is not a concrete body, but a dynamic power that cannot be described with rationality, a power that is unstoppable and timeless with an ephemeral flow, and such power is a dynamic and creative force. It is both orderly and impalpable. It has directions but they are indefinite. In conclusion, in the eyes of Yan Shilin, the authentic pursuit of artistic creation endows him with the incentive for continuous creation. Artists should always have their own analysis and presentation of reality and personal psychology, remind themselves from time to time not to be dominated by popular art, and be vigilant against realist-mundane expression. Artists should take open and realistic means for personal artistic expression in meeting new challenges. We can say that Yan Shilin 's works do not intend to offer a final and definitive answer, but allow audience to see or feel a glimpse of their memory when standing in front of his sculptures.

Rear Wave
New Faces of New Painting（Line Gallery·Beijing）
2023.12.30 - 2024.02.20

□ A Choice between Loss and Hope --On Yan Shilin's Sculpture

Huang Du

Yan Shilin 's sculptures often focus on psychological issues and feelings related to youth and young people 's growth. The generation born in the 1980s in China, in the absence of an enshrouding grand political narrative, has been living in a fresh and stable society. Though unshackled of ideological constraints, the generation has to face up to the pressures from urbanization and market economy, as well as the accompanying shadows breeding emotions of loss, loneliness and sadness. Alike many artists born in the 1980s, Yan Shilin has no choice but to dodge the confusing reality to return directly to his internal world. Yan Shilin is different from the 1980s generation artists who enjoy a prevalent fresh and lovely aroma. Although Yan retains a thimbleful of such loveliness, he intentionally endows his works with more spiritual dimensions to express the sense of confusion, loss, suffering, loneliness, and sadness. The sense of sadness and anxiety, which have already implanted a grave attitude towards life for Yan, can be traced from his works even though childhood memories have been gradually fading out. His works repeatedly intensify that sense of vulnerability. The works bearing his personal memory and feeling, with their unique vivid narrative, abstract the self from hustle and bustle of real life to turn the self into a bystander observing the complexity of the real world. Yan relies more on the excavation of the inner self to represent the gap between the inner self and reality. The background or identity of the child or teenager in Yan 's sculptures cannot be easily traced, and what audience feel is more of a autobiographical imagination and self-expression. Both in terms of content and form, Yan fuses his personal psychology and other people 's feelings into his sculptural images to weave a both lovely and lonely atmosphere, triggering the emotional echo and philosophical thinking of audience. Therefore, in this sense, Yan 's sculptures heal in an artistic way.
As can be observed, the subjective depoliticization in his sculptural language does not mean that there is no ideological depth. The artist 's perspective is hinted in the images of children and teenagers. The children and teenagers, as self-incarnation, are shaped into the a variety of innocent fairy-tale looks full of wordless language. The facial and body language of the children and teenagers contrast with today 's complex and chaotic social reality. If you gaze at his sculptures "Where the Flowers Are Blooming " and "The Castle in My Heart " (2012), you will immediately detect his implication -- the lack of security and symbol of seeking shelter. In "Where the Flowers Are Blooming, " the boy with his eyes wide open wears a frightened face. The branches surrounding his body are crooked subjectively to serve dual purposes -- as a decorative part of the sculpture, and also a symbol of the safe haven for the boy. Furthermore, the young fawn gazing upward at the boy seems to convey more connotations, and one of them is the alienation between animals and humans. Denser branches bind up the young boy carrying a rabbit in "The Castle in My Heart. " In " The Castle in My Heart ", different kinds of birds perch on the branches, and a rabbit on the ground also constitutes the whole picture. I believe that this sculpture fully discloses one 's personal feelings. Yan is familiar with the delicate relationship between the language of sculpture and space, and he manages to carve the images and their relationships with both preciseness and artistic weight -- Yan arouses the memory of childhood and sense of compassion of audience through the rendering of relationship between the boy and the branches, and between the boy and the animals.
Obviously, one important feature of Yan Shilin 's sculptures is the reliance on the narratives, scenes, stories, relationships, logics, and attitudes from literature, and he further fuses the many elements to translate them into absurd and bizarre visual language. The binding of a kid with animal is an evocation of Yan 's subconsciousness from childhood memory, with examples including "Lord Peacock ", "Tender Is the Night ", "Prickly Pear ", etc. On the one side we find presentation of his instinctive nervosity, and on the other, the symbiosis of child or teenager with animals and/or plants more or less reflect man 's kind, friendly, and caring spiritual realm.
Yan 's solo exhibition in Line Gallery in 2013 marks a change in his artistic road. In addition to single sculpture that he previously engaged in, Yan began to boldly inject dramaticism and installation art into his sculptures. In this way, the language of sculptures extends both in terms of language and form to fully demonstrate multi-dimensional scenarios. In comparison with his single sculptures, his works now analyze and deal with complex problems in terms of idea, language, and form. He skillfully grasps the delicate relationship between the whole and part, between big and small objects regarding the constitution of the work using postures and facial expressions of the youth and related objects, and the combination of ready-made and sculpture -- he is constructing unique significance with objects, motion, space, and time. In "Floral Warrior " (2013), the boy wearing a tiger-design hat riding on a deer stares attentively ahead with a spear in his hand. Their postures are shrouded by the pavilion woven by bent twigs. The stability of the pavilion obviously reinforces the sense of security, and in the meantime, the rabbit and birds in the pavilion add a sense of serenity. Apparently, the deer, as the center of audience 's gaze, is cast into a monument-style and horse-like stance with imposing grandeur. By doing this, Yan does not aim to pursue loftiness, but to perfect a self-woven world and to strike balance for the piece of art. In sharp contrast, "Liar Game " combines sculpture and installation. An egret stands at the bow of the hanging ready-made boat, and at the bottom of the boat audience would find a crawling giant crocodile. In this piece of art, the artist vividly captures the contradiction and conflict in the animal world, and present fully the tension between serene and tension, peacefulness and danger, and between life and death. His new work "Hunter " (2014), on the basis of "Liar Game ", captures the moment when the girl hunts the crocodile, an extended and upgraded presentation of the dramatic tension and danger.
In the small sculpture "Boxer Girl " (2013), as a departure from the sculptures with a larger narrative scenario, Yan intentionally turns away from his customary fine sculptural techniques and adopts a rough artistic language to shape a cool and textured girl. Furthermore, the girl 's facial expression and posture reveals a sense of pain from to being scolded and treated coldly. Similarly, "Fortress Besieged " incorporates the dynamics of drama. A squatting boy wearing a rabbit-design hat catches a fox -- tempting audience to guess what will happen next.
Therefore, the presentation of personal memory and life state by Yan Shilin 's sculptures fully explains his philosophy of life. In Yan 's eyes, all things are externalization or objectification of impulses of life, and he highlights that only the ones with the instinct to experience inner life can grasp the integrity of Life. As he stated, "all inspirations of my works come from my life. I do not care about political issues, nor do I like pop art forms. I just think about myself and other people 's lives and feelings as a human being, and take the baffling and uncomfortable issues as questions to discuss and solve them with audience and people who share the same concern. " His words further testify his attention on the consciousness of life. He sees artistic creation as a instinct and impulse of man. As the German philosopher Wilhelm Dilthcy (1833-1911) puts it, life is the origin of world. Life is not simply physical activity. Life is not a concrete body, but a dynamic power that cannot be described with rationality, a power that is unstoppable and timeless with an ephemeral flow, and such power is a dynamic and creative force. It is both orderly and impalpable. It has directions but they are indefinite.
In conclusion, in the eyes of Yan Shilin, the authentic pursuit of artistic creation endows him with the incentive for continuous creation. Artists should always have their own analysis and presentation of reality and personal psychology, remind themselves from time to time not to be dominated by popular art, and be vigilant against realist-mundane expression. Artists should take open and realistic means for personal artistic expression in meeting new challenges. We can say that Yan Shilin 's works do not intend to offer a final and definitive answer, but allow audience to see or feel a glimpse of their memory when standing in front of his sculptures.