范晓妍｜刚之柔，竹之韧 Fan Xiaoyan | Unbreakable Softness

After graduating from the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2008, Fan Xiaoyan's works have been actively presented to the public. The early sculpture series titled "Possession" left a strong impression in the viewers: the artist, combining cold stainless steel with a large variety of other materials, creates intriguing and thought-provoking sculptures of female figures. The sculptures display invulnerable metal bodies of female soldiers, where industrial components replace body organs. Regardless of their physical strength, their face retains a calm and peaceful expression. 

How do we live well as women? In Works such as “The Winding Earthly" Fan Xiaoyan uses needlework and buttons as clue and symbol to discuss the polarization between women's established identity in traditional society and their true inner self. Fan Xiaoyan's works express the ambition for people to free themselves from the constraints of society and to stick to their own way of living. 

 △ 一针一线 One stitch one string

不锈钢 黄铜 Stainless steel and brass

50×50×50cm 2012

Fan Xiaoyan's attention gradually shifted from the self to nature, plants and other elements that are often overlooked by humans. The gold and silver orchids and the bamboos are represented as solidified bodies and they are captured in a powerful and natural posture. This visual tension gives to the audience the illusion of time and space stagnation.

Time slows down, and the senses become soft and clear. The artist achieved a reconciliation with herself and with the surrounding world through the use of four-dimensional elements to send signals of life to the outside world.  

 △ 扭曲的生长-西红柿 Distorted Growing-Tomato

紫铜 不锈钢着色 Copper and coloured stainless steel

60×46×60cm 2014

 △ 扭曲的生长-红萝卜 Distorted Growing-Carrot

不锈钢 黄铜 丙烯着色 Stainless steel, brass and acrylic

50×48×127cm 2014

 △ 扭曲的生长-青萝卜 Distorted Growing-Green Turnip

紫铜 不锈钢着色 Copper and coloured stainless steel

60×46×60cm 2014

P = PVG ART  芳草地画廊

F = Fan Xiaoyan  范晓妍

Why do you create images of powerful and invulnerable women who can pass through metal walls?

This specific choice has to do with my own female identity. Through my creativity, I represent elements that could not exist in our reality. I hope that women, including myself, can be stronger and more independent mentally without being influenced and dominated by prejudices and stereotypes. I think this was the dream and the original intention when I started to work on this series at the time.  

 △ 附体01 Possession No.1

综合材料 Mixed media

171×88×110cm 2008

 △ 附体02 Possession No.2

综合材料 Mixed media

168×65×143cm 2008

What makes you associate the female body with weapons?

 △ 附体03  Possession No.3

综合材料 Mixed media

185×113×71cm 2008

The gold colour is a natural extension of human skin, with a special reference to Chinese people’s yellow skin. The combination between the coldness of the silver and the warmth of the gold is very harmonious, representing the balance between Yin and Yang.

 △ 难题02 Enigma02

不锈钢 黄铜 金箔 Stainless steel, brass and gold leaf

198×230×66cm 2011

As far as your sculptures are concerned, what kind of structure and aesthetics you are more interested in?

I especially like metal wires: long and thin metal wires can be soft, bendable and shapeable; if the metal wires are thicker, then they can be hard and tough. I like the fact that metal wires can be soft without losing their hardness.  

 △ 矛盾综合体 Contradictory complex

不锈钢 黄铜 铁 Stainless steel, brass and iron

97×56×135cm 2013

 △ 剪如气 Force

不锈钢 黄铜 金箔 Stainless steel,brass and gold leaf

123×126×55cm 2011

In your works, does nature have any particular meaning? 

In the latest series “Bamboo Charm”, to what extent is gender identity relevant?

本文图片来自艺术家和芳草地画廊

photo credit to the artist and Parkview Green Art

范晓妍

Fan Xiaoyan

范晓妍1983年生于山东高密，毕业于中央美术学院雕塑系，现工作生活于北京。主要个展包括“最美.绽放”，巨+音乐餐厅，北京，2018，“柔之胜刚”，老佛爷，北京，2013，“范晓妍”，Opera Gallery，2013， 巴黎；主要群展包括“Wing of Change”，Harmay话梅，北京，2020，“ART LOUNGE”，香港机场VIP区，香港，2019，“鲨鱼与人类”，侨福当代美术馆，新加坡，2017，等。

Fan Xiaoyan was born in Gaomi, Shandong in 1983. She graduated from the Sculpture Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts, China. The artist currently lives and works in Beijing. Her main solo exhibitions include"Most Beautiful - Bloom", Giant+Music Restaurant, Beijing, 2020, "Unbreakable", Lafayette, Beijing, 2013, "Fan Xiaoyan", Opera Gallery, Paris, 2013, etc; her main group exhibitions include "Wing of Change", Harmay, Beijing, 2020, "On Sharks & Humanity", The Parkview Museum Singapore, Singapore, 2017, etc.