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One Man's Journey: The Paintings of Yan Sun
September 6 through October 28, 2007
One Man's Journey:
The Paintings of Yan Sun is on display in the Education
Gallery of the Canton Museum of Art September 6 through October 28, 
2007. Yan Sun is an Associate Professor of Art and Director
of Muskingum College's Louis Palmer Gallery. His oil, acrylic and water
color paintings have been featured in many publications and have won numerous
awards in international juried exhibitions. (right: Yan Sun, Ladder)
Yan Sun writes in his artist's statement that, "The reflecting of philosophical ideas about life, time, and space can be an ever-lasting theme of art. Chinese philosophy emphasizes the oneness of inner feeling and external observation. The coupling of reality and subjective feeling makes awareness and judgment possible."
He goes on to say that, "Chinese philosophy places emphases on finding the source inside the human mind. Artists steeped in Chinese philosophy must pay particular attention to the cultivation of mind in order to acquire this mental ability while engaging in art creation. Some artists work from mental visions and some find their inspiration in nature, while some artists try to fuse both mind and nature.
When describing his work, the artist suggests that, "although
my paintings are two-dimensional, they are not representative of the three
basic physical dimensions. That is why I prefer the black background. The
black background functions as the changed psychic and dream space within
which there is unlimited potential of happening. The elements that appear
in that space do not necessarily occupy the same time frame or physical
space."
About the artist
Yan Sun is Associate Professor of Art and the Gallery Director of Muskingum College, New Concord, OH. He received the M.F.A. degree in painting and drawing from Texas A&M University-Commerce, the M.A. degree of Art History from Xi'an University of Fine Arts, and the B.F.A. degree in painting and drawing from Northwest China Normal University.
An award-winning artist, Yan Sun has paintings exhibited in the following locations
(above Yan Sun, Weeping Mona Lisa)
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