Yangyang Pan invites us into her sultry gardens, where stalks and bushes groan with blooms. Bold strokes beckon with brash promises that may or may not be kept; subtler blossoms hint at whispered secrets. We succumb to the lure, caught up in the movement and energy, then loll languid in the warmth. The air is heavy: leaves and petals lush with longing give off scent and moisture. A slight breeze lifts. The mood shifts. Some tease, some flirt, some play – but only for a moment. Again, the coyness gives way to confidence.

The longing remains unspoken, yet impossible to ignore.

Ten new oils by Yangyang Pan make up a collection that is at once mature and fresh in nature. It is a lively series that seduces, captivates and holds the viewer in a warm embrace. Plunge into a secret garden that will envelop the spirit and wrap it in sensual textures.

See Yangyang Pan’s new work at Diana Witte Gallery in Toronto from February 8th - March 3^rd,, 2019. Join Yangyang at the opening reception on Saturday, February 9^th from 2- 4 p.m. to learn more about how the artist captures the transformation, fecundity and vitality of life through the metaphor of the garden.

Qi is a spiritual energy that represents a vital energy in Chinese culture. It roughly translates to “air.” In YangYang Pan’s paintings, the spirit of Qi is palatable. The work vibrates with the richly pigmented colours and palatable brushstrokes. “My abstractions certainly share an interest in Monet’s light, and the emotional evocation is rooted in the spirit of Oriental aesthetics,” Pan said.

Pan’s practice has spanned over ten years, resulting in a visible confidence. Each brush stroke and choice of colour feel imbued with purpose. The work in “Sultry Garden,” are highly energetic paintings, looking at them, you get the sense they are buzzing. Layers of brush strokes cumulate in a lyrical abstraction made up of a symphony of colours.

Clusters of forest green make way for yellows and reds, before succumbing to off-white in “Cheerful Moment.” The downward movement of the paint strokes invokes the sense of rain, whereas the upward strokes towards the top of the painting can be read as a metaphor for the growth that rain begets. It’s hard not to feel happy when looking at Pan's canvases, yet they avoid being reductive—Pan doesn’t shy away from colours, but balances out the bright pigments with dark vignettes that frame the paintings, creating a moodiness and depth to the otherwise upbeat paintings.

While the large canvases draw the viewer into the work and fill up a space, the small works “focus on the compelling details and texture, the subtle interaction, that may be some kind of reaching out for something more personal,” Pan said. In one of Pan’s smaller canvases, "Mist Light,” she uses thick, wide brushstrokes that create a minimalist quality. In “Sultry Garden,” Pan has begun experimenting with using her fingers and newspaper to apply paint—the variety of paint strokes are visible and result in an added intimacy to the work. Pan’s work is gestural, yet controlled. Her intuition for balance comes through in her paintings in multiple forms.