Yan Haibin's paintings are mostly of foot-bound women from old China. Zhou Tao with the Shanghai Daily reports that the aim of the artist is to help modern Chinese women "smash the shackles imposed on them by ancient customs".

For US-based artist Yan Haibin, a woman who came originally from the countryside of neighboring Zhejiang Province, the road to success as a professional painter was rough indeed.

"My story sometimes brings tears to the eyes of listeners because it's hard enough for anyone to be successful as an artist, let alone a girl from rural China," she says, lighting another cigarette.

On a warm autumn afternoon in Shanghai, Yan starts telling her story. A ray of sunlight through the trees throws shadows on her scarlet qipao which is embroidered with Chinese dragons.

Yan's first solo exhibition in Shanghai, "The Female Legend," is now running at the Tian Zifang gallery on Taikang Road. As the title suggests, her paintings are of the lives of women, and viewers with sharp eyes perhaps will be able to detect Yan's shadow in the works.

Her 30 paintings are mainly of women from different eras in ancient China. They look like a combination of Western oil painting and Chinese ink-wash as viewers will first notice the strong hue of the background, usually bright red or orange, and then discover the typical Chinese lines of the character in the painting.

One picture, set against a vague background of red, features a girl in white with a shoulder-pole carrying a monkey at one end and a basin at the other. The girl earns a living from the monkey's performances.

Other characters in Yan's pictures are usually elegant women - in traditional Chinese dresses.

Born in a small village in Huzhou in 1971, Yan became interested in painting at an early age, but she had no opportunity to be taught art and had to learn to draw all by herself.

In 1987, Yan applied for entry to a normal university after graduating from high school. "At least being a teacher was better than being a farmer," she says.

However, she failed.

But she didn't give up her dream of being an artist. Yan started working as a weaver in a local textile workshop but never stopped drawing even when she couldn't afford with her meager income to buy paper.

Her efforts finally paid off when she was able to enroll at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Fine Arts) in 1992. She was taught oil painting and started to develop her own style.

Yan says she believes that color is more important than shape.

"When you take a look at a picture, what you see first is the color, not exactly what the object in the picture is," she says.

When Yan first started to paint, she found initial inspiration in her childhood memories of the status of women in rural areas, especially in her hometown.

As she grew up, Yan had seen many old women with small feet (the result of the cruel custom of footbinding) and she realized that she wanted to paint the lives of Chinese women.

That has resulted in Yan's series of paintings featuring women working in different occupations but all with the same small feet.

After years of practice, Yan has managed to combine Western techniques with Chinese verve. She starts off with a bold color when painting a background instead of the traditional way of doing a Chinese painting which tends to employ subdued colors.

The background is also vague, without a specific object in focus. But Yan retains typical Chinese lines when it comes to depicting women and girls.

Yan's own experience also helps in her combining Western and Chinese skills in painting. She lived in New York after graduating from the art academy, and moved back to Shanghai in 2002.

Her move to the city also led to her romance with Peter Steckel, a lawyer who's now her husband. The two met in a local restaurant on the second day after Yan's return.

Now living in Atlanta in the United States, Yan continues her art career.

Her exposure to Western art has resulted in her adoption of painting with big strokes which helps her represent a feeling of having broken free from restraints.

"Chinese women should smash the shackles imposed on them by ancient customs," Yan explains.
And she is definitely a good example of a woman who has done just that.

(Shanghai Daily November 7, 2005)