JIANG HONGWEI (B. 1957)

Jiang Hongwei was born in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province in 1957. He entered the Nanjing University of Arts in 1974, and continued to work and lecture on bird-and-flower paintings at the University following his graduation in 1977. He currently serves as a researcher at the China Art Research Institute.

With an arsenal of work that poetically portrays birds and flowers, Jiang Hongwei celebrates the tranquillity of nature. Inspired by Song dynasty paintings, Jiang depicts the delicate nature of flowers and birds with supreme elegance. He imbues his paintings with a greyish tone, a technique he employs to symbolise the passage of time, to maintain a link to the distant past. In his work, time slows down. The artist meticulously applies layers of ink to paper, allows it to dry, and repeats the process allowing layers of colour to accumulate.