State of Yin's mind

[Photo provided to China Daily]

The earliest drawings he made, Yin recalls, were in his childhood while returning home from school. He scribbled on a white cement wall, which now no longer exists, in his native Nanyang city in Central China's Henan province.

He doesn't remember what he drew back then, but he still cherishes the sound of pencil scraping the rough surface of a wall, he says. But the fun turned into boredom by the time he reached high school, and he had to put in a lot of practice to prepare for entrance exams to art colleges. The daily routine of drawing almost killed his interest in the subject, Yin adds.

It was during his studies at Beijing's Central Academy of Fine Arts that Yin found what he had learned about drawing was misleading. He started to rework his understanding of technical issues. Meanwhile, he also saw through the mystery of paintings: One doesn't seek visual perfection but, more importantly, an artist draws to express his or her sentiments.

"The process of drawing is more like taking a course on how the mind works. When an artist picks up a pencil and looks at a piece of paper, he not only visualizes his imagination but also converses with his soul," he says.

"People say that a pencil is the extension of one's nerves. I think my works trace my spiritual evolution."

His exhibits－sketches and watercolor works－show his psychological transformation over the past decade, during which contemporary artists in China struggled with an immature market.

The severely wounded half-man, half-beast figure in Yin's watercolor series Hurt, for instance, reflects his state of mind in 2006, when he was seen as an ambitious star artist.

"Yin mostly draws for himself. Hence he is more sensitive to the idea of sketching everything he feels. These drawn works may not be mature but are more vigorous and straightforward," Fang says.

Contact the writer at linqi@chinadaily.com.cn

If you go

10 am-5 pm daily, Mondays closed; through July 13. Lelege Art, B03, Ground Floor Store, 66 Xiaguangli, North Road of East Third Ring, Chaoyang district. 010-8446-7702.