CAI XIAOLI (B. 1956)

Cai Xiaoli's work explores the natural world through a synergy of Western and Chinese painting techniques. She was trained in China by leading masters of both Western painting techniques and traditional Chinese portraiture. In 1982 Cai graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, one of the country's most prestigious art school. From 1986-1989 Cai taught Traditional Chinese painting at her alma mater. Cai arrived in England in 1989, where she sought to harmonise her personal style with traditional painting methods and materials. Cai's experiments with form and colour achieved bold new effects. Her work animates and enlivens classical Chinese subjects such as bamboo and autumn foliage, reinvigorating archaic themes through her contemporary flare. Cai has exhibited widely in Oxford, Amsterdam and New York, among other locations.