Artist Statement
My practice is grounded in a phenomenological approach to painting, with a focus on bodily perception, memory, space, and time. For me, painting is not a fixed image but a process of making and a way of creating an experience.
My process is shaped by my early training in Chinese calligraphy and my background in documentary photography. Calligraphy taught me that a stroke carries breath, rhythm, energy, and the state of the mind. Photography taught me to observe, feel, and respond to the environment without trying to control too much.
I seek to express an abstract landscape through the simplest possible gestures and forms. My ongoing project, The Dungan Garden (“Dungan” meaning “slow sensation”), reflects my desire to slow down and become more attentive to the present moment. I enjoy the process of slowing down and experiencing each horizontal stroke. It carries the movement of body, breath, and awareness in that particular moment. Each gesture is repeated but never identical, becoming a record of physical presence and passing time.
At the same time, I allow gravity and other natural forces to guide the flow and dripping of the paint, disrupting my control over the process. I seek a balance of control, Liubai, and rhythm.
I use large-scale unstretched canvases that allow my entire body to enter the process. The rhythm and movement of my body become part of the painting, while the surrounding space becomes an extension of the work itself. Through this process, painting becomes not only an image, but a space for sensing, experiencing, and being present.
我的艺术实践建立在一种现象学的绘画方法之上，关注身体感知、记忆、空间与时间。对我而言，绘画并不是一个固定的图像，而是一个持续发生的创作过程，也是创造一种体验的方式。
我的艺术进程受到早期中国书法训练和纪实摄影背景的影响。书法让我理解到，一笔不仅是一个痕迹，也承载着呼吸、节奏、能量以及当下的心境。摄影则教会我观察、感受并回应环境，而不过度控制。
我希望用最简单的动作和形式来表达一个抽象的景观。我的持续性项目《钝感花园》（The Dungan Garden）中的“钝感”意为“缓慢的感知”，反映了我希望让自己慢下来，更加专注于当下的愿望。我享受慢下来、感受每一道横向笔触的过程。每一道笔触都承载着那个特定时刻中身体的运动、呼吸与意识。每一个横笔不断重复，却从不完全相同，成为身体存在与时间流逝的记录。
与此同时，我让重力和其他自然力量引导颜料的流动与滴落，打破我对创作过程的控制。我希望在控制、留白与节奏之间找到一种平衡。
我使用大幅面的无框架画布，让整个身体能够进入创作过程。身体的节奏与运动成为绘画的一部分，而周围的空间也成为作品的延伸。通过这一过程，绘画不再只是一幅图像，而成为一个感知、体验与存在于当下的空间。
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BIO
Yanmei Jiang is a New York–based painter born in Guangzhou, China. Her practice explores the concept of the “body as archive,” developing embodied memory through large-scale abstract painting rooted in muscle memory. She creates flowing, interwoven surfaces in which color remains distinct yet relational, where displacement and environmental experience generate new ways of seeing and sensing.
She received her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2023. Jiang first gained recognition for her photography series Me and Me, which received the Taipei Photo New Talent Award and is included in collections such as the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung Foundation (Germany) and the Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum (China).
Since transitioning to painting in 2021, her recent highlights include a 2025 solo exhibition at the Chinese American Arts Council / 456 Gallery in New York and a residency at AnkhLave Arts Alliance on Governors Island.
江演媚是一位常驻纽约的画家，出生于中国广州。她的创作以“身体作为档案”为核心概念，通过基于肌肉记忆的大尺幅抽象绘画，发展具身性的记忆表达。她构建出流动且交织的画面结构，使色彩在保持各自独立性的同时形成相互关联，在位移与环境经验的作用下生成新的观看与感知方式。
她于2023年获得纽约视觉艺术学院（School of Visual Arts）艺术硕士学位。演媚最初以摄影系列《Me and Me》获得关注，该系列曾获得台北摄影新锐奖，并被德国Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung基金会及中国成都当代影像馆等机构收藏。
自2021年转向绘画以来，她的近期重要项目包括2025年于纽约中美艺术中心 / 456画廊举办的个展，以及在Governors Island的AnkhLave Arts Alliance驻留项目。
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CV
- EDUCATION
2023 MFA, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
2010 BA in Journalism, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China
- RESIDENCIES & PROJECTS
2025 Grand Scale Mural Project, Uptown Grand Central, New York, NY
2025 AnkhLave Residency, Governors Island, New York, NY
2023 ChaShaMa Exhibition Residency, New York, NY
- SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 “A Toe in the Water”, 456 Gallery (Chinese American Arts Council), New York, NY
2017 “Me and Me”, Ray Art Center, Shanghai, China
2016 “Me and Me”, 12th Lianzhou International Photo Festival, Lianzhou, China
- SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026 Echoes of Home: Egypt Edition (Off Biennale), Darb 1718, Cairo, Egypt
2025 “Anything Goes”, Bushwick Open Studios, Brooklyn, NY
2025 “Blue Line: A Journey of Reawakening” (Performance), AnkhLave Residency, Governors Island, NY
2025 “The Journey”, Hot Water Cool Art Annual Exhibition, New York, NY
2024 “Welcome to the Wonderland”, CP Project Space, New York, NY
2023 “Playground and Dreams”, ChaShaMa Gallery, New York, NY
2023 “Idylls & Reveries”, VillageOneArt Gallery, New York, NY
2023 “Cement, TaiL of A Gecko”, Temple Gallery & Tutu Gallery, New York, NY
2023 “Echo Box”, Latchkey Gallery, New York, NY
2023 “Stockwell Collective Show”, Boston, MA
2021 “Wild Horses”, Sim Smith Gallery, London, UK
2018 17th DongGang International Photo Festival, DongGang, South Korea
2017 “The Port and the Image”, China Port Museum, Ningbo, China
2017 “La Maison de Z: Made In China”, Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France
2016 8th Three Shadows Photography Award Exhibition, Three Shadows Art Centre, Beijing, China
2016 8th Fotobook Festival Kassel, Kassel, Germany (traveled to Beijing, China)
2016 Taipei Photo Festival, Taipei, Taiwan China
2015 Xitek EOS New Talent Award Exhibition, Beijing, China
2015 “CONNECT”, LensCulture Network Exhibition (Online)
2015 “@Daily Snapshot”, Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China
2013 Volume: Birmingham’s Art, Book, & Print Fair, Birmingham, UK
2013 “From Print to Publishing*, Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester, UK
2012 Times Museum Community Art Festival, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, China
- AWARDS & HONORS
2016 Emerging Talent Award, Taipei Photo Festival, Taiwan
2016 Shortlist, Dummy Award Kassel, Germany
2016 Shortlist, Three Shadows Photography Award, China
2015 Winner, Xitek EOS New Talent Award, China
- PUBLICATIONS
2021 “ABOUT US: Young Photography in China”, Hirmer Publishers, Munich. ISBN: 978-3-7774-3656-2
2017 “The Port and The Image: Documenting China’s Harbor Cities”, Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House. ISBN: 978-7-5535-0889-4
2017 “Enning” (Self-published photobook with Wenjun Chen)
- COLLECTIONS
Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung Foundation, Munich, Germany
Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum, Chengdu, China
- LECTURES & WORKSHOPS
2013 Mentor, Photography Book Workshop, Lishui International Photography Festival, China
2013 Mentor, Handmade Book Workshop, Fei Gallery, Guangzhou, China
2012 Mentor, Self-publishing Book Workshop, Times Museum Community Art Festival, China
- SELECTED PRESS / BIBLIOGRAPHY
2024 CanvasRebel Magazine, “Meet Yanmei Jiang,” Feature Interview.
2022 The Brooklyn Rail, Exhibition Review, New York.
2021 LensCulture, “Feature: Yanmei Jiang’s Photography and Abstract Approach,” Digital Publication.
2020 VICE China, “Artist Interview: Breaking the Boundaries Between Documentary and Abstraction,” Digital Feature.
2018 IMA Magazine (Japan), “Selected New Voices in Contemporary Photography,” Print Publication.
2017 IGNANT (Germany), Feature Presentation of Me and Me Series.
2017 The Eye of Photography (France/USA), “The delicate, handmade photobooks of Wenjun Chen, Yanmei Jiang, and Du Bao Ni”.
2017 Portrait Magazine (人物), “The Gaze of the New Generation: Yanmei Jiang,” Feature Article.
2016 Marie Claire (China), “Art and Identity: Emerging Female Artists,” Feature Interview.
2015 The Paper (澎湃新闻), Feature Profile and Artwork Review.