Lan Wang (b. 1953), artist, was born in Beijing, China and at sixteen was sent to work as a farm labourer in China's Great Northern Wilderness for nine years. She met the artist Jiawei Shen in 1975, before going on to study printmaking at the Lu-Xun Academy of Fine Art in Shenyang, graduating with a Master of Art. Wang then taught at the academy, as well as working and exhibiting as an artist. One of Shen's paintings – a depiction of heroes of the Chinese nationalist movement – necessitated his departure from China in 1989. Wang was pregnant when he left; it was two years before they were reunited in Sydney, where Shen met their daughter Xini for the first time. A painter, printmaker and woodcarver, Wang's work has been included in solo and group exhibitions and is held in private and public collections, including the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. Wang is a founding member of the Art Trail of Bundeena, south of Sydney, and regularly opens her studio for visitors.
Gary Grealy created diptych portraits of husband and wife, Lan Wang and Jiawei Shen, each holding a photograph of the other in their youth, referencing their homeland and separation. As the artist noted, 'I wanted to create a work that was about reflection and stillness.'
Purchased with funds provided by Dr Gene Sherman AM 2016
© Gary Grealy
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