b. 1975, Shandong, China. Lives and works in Beijing and Xi’an, China.

Pan Jian is a thoughtful and committed painter. In his exploration of shadow, the artist distills the relationship between light and dark to its purest form, resulting in an arresting body of work that challenges the viewer’s eyes to adjust to the dim silhouettes and wander through the monochromatic nighttime scenes. Pan Jian’s artistic process first draws inspiration from actual landscapes, gradually transforming what he has seen into the imagined scenes that he presents on each canvas. The landscapes are therefore both real and imagined, a dichotomy that is reflected in the concept that although a shadow has no tangible content, the image presented is still able to move the viewer, provoking an emotional response. Pan Jian graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Xi’an Academy of Fine Art where he is now a teacher.