“I think of painting as a playmate, a playmate more intelligent and stubborn than me. For many years we have enjoyed chasing one another, and having a lot of fun. At times there have also been arguments.
However, I am glad that I have such a playmate. With it I am never lonely. I will only exist for a limited time, but art lives forever. Art sustains me, but to art I am a mere speck of dust. This is why I say I need art, even though I myself am absolutely of no consequence to art.” |
Lan Wang
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Lan Wang was born in Beijing in 1953 and at the age of 16, during the Cultural Revolution, was sent to work as a farm labourer for nine years.
In 1977 she entered the Print Department of the Lu-Xun Academy of Fine Art in Shenyang, China, where she obtained her Masters degree. Lan then worked as an artist and teacher there for many years. Lan was a member of the Chinese Artists Association and her works are in many top private and public collections, including the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. Though she specialises in printmaking, she is also skilled in many other media, including woodcarving. In 1989 a mural formed of large carvings won the silver medal in the National Art Exhibition. Arriving in Australia in 1991, she continued to paint while adapting to her new surroundings. She has had solo exhibitions at Coventry Gallery in 1993 and 1997 and at the Art Atrium Gallery in 2010 and 2013. Her work has appeared in several publications including Images, Contemporary Australian Painting (1995). In 2010, her work collection album Wang Lan was published by Wild Peony. As a founding member of the Art Trail of Bundeena, she has regularly opened her studio for visitors on the first Sunday of each month for the past 15 years. |