Yeqiang Wang Paintings
About the artist
Yeqiang Wang is currently an Associate Professor of Art at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. He achieved his MFA degree at the School of Visual Arts, University of Windsor in Windsor Canada in 2000 and his B.F.A. degree at Sichuan Institute of Fine Arts in Chongqing China in 1991.
artist statement
When I read about the novel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by the English writer Lewis Carroll, I was fascinated. In the story Alice wonders what the world is like behind the reflected scene on a mirror surface. To her surprise, she is able to pass through this mirror to experience an alternate world. The story is regarded as “literary nonsense” by some people, but makes a lot of sense to me. When I was a teenager I always wanted to see the world. Not until I was 33 years old did I make the long trek from China to North America to explore my “wonderland”. Although I thought I was psychologically ready for a new move, what I have experienced in North America was a lot of cultural shock: different language, different tradition, different value system and so on. I was confused and annoyed for some time at first. Then, I started to embrace my confusion and use it as the inspiration for my paintings. Frankly speaking, even though I have been here for thirteen years, I’m still experiencing difficulties in perceiving the whole picture of the new culture, as if there were a piece of glass between the world and me. In my “Reflection” painting series, I use newly-made friends here as subjects and the glass window as a metaphor to reflect my fragmented impression of this new culture, which is sometimes clear and sometimes blurry. The fragmented images look surreal, just like Alice’s experience in wonderland. Likewise, I have created a new “wonderland” where I can wander, learn and grow.
Awards
2016 Honorable Mention, The National Juried Exhibition, Art at the Center,
Overland Park, Kansas
2016 Cash Award, The 47th Annual Smoky Hill Art Exhibition, Hays Arts Council,
Hays, Kansas
2011 President's Choice, Kansans Paint Kansas Art Competition, Topeka Art Guild,
Topeka, Kansas
2011 Honorable Mention, The 15th Annual “Line into Shapes” Art Competition &
Sale, Art Center of Estes Park, Estes Park, Colorado
2011 The Fourth Prize, The Third Annual Figurative Drawing & Painting Exhibition,
Lore Degenstein Gallery, Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania
2011 Cash Award, The 42nd Annual Smoky Hill Art Competition and Exhibition,
Hays Arts Council, Hays, Kansas
2010 Excellent Award, The 41st Annual Smoky Hill Art Competition and
Exhibition, Hays Arts Council, Hays, Kansas
2009 Juror’s Merit Recognition, The 40th Annual Smoky Hill Art Competition and
Exhibition, Hays Arts Council, Hays, Kansas
2007 Shae Cash Award, The 38th Annual Smoky Hill Art Competition and
Exhibition, Hays Arts Council, Hays, Kansas
2006 Award of Excellence, Northern National Art Competition, Northern Arts
Council, Rhinelander, Wisconsin
2006 Anita Bengtson Memorial Cash Award, Kansas Watercolor Society Great 8
Exhibition, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas
2006 Juror’s Merit Recognition, The 37th Annual Smoky Hill Art Exhibition, Hays
Arts Council, Hays, Kansas
2005 Honorable Mention, Combined Talents: the 20th Annual International
Competition, Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee,
Florida
2005 Tucker and nation Meyer Cash Award, Kansas Watercolor Society Great 8
Exhibition, Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, Kansas
2005 Third Place, The Eighth National Juried Art Exhibition, the Baker Arts Center,
Liberal, Kansas
2000 Outstanding Canadian Work prize, The Fourth International Watercolor
Biennial, Mexico
1998 Bronze medal, The 4th National Watercolor & Gouache Exhibition,
Qingdao/Beijing, China
1997 Bronze medal, The 7th Chinese Watercolor Exhibition, Chongqing/Chengdu,
China
1996 Bronze medal, The 3rd National Watercolor & Gouache Exhibition,
Beijing/Beihai, China
1996 Excellent Work prize, Sichuan Art Exhibition, Chengdu, China
1995 Second Prize, Sichuan Art Exhibition, Chengdu, China
1994 Excellent Work prize, Sichuan Art Exhibition, Chengdu, China
Solo shows
2016 Ye Wang Landscape Exhibition, MLB Designs & Boutique, Kansas City, MO
2015 New Watercolors, MLB Designs & Boutique, Kansas City, Missouri
2014 Reflections, Nexlynx, Topeka, Kansas
2014 Return to Classicism, Upstage Gallery, Topeka, Kansas
2011 “Reflections”, P.E.O. Foundation Gallery, Cottey College, Nevada, Missouri
2010 “Reflections”, Sandzen Gallery, Lindsborg, Kansas
2009 “ Through the Looking-Glass”, Moss-Thorns Gallery of Art, Fort Hays State
University, Hays, Kansas
2008 Ye Wang Painting Exhibition, Cloister Gallery of Grace Cathedral, Topeka,
Kansas
2007 “Reflections”, Barton County Arts Council, Great Bend, Kansas
2007 Oils and Watercolors by Ye Wang, Hays Arts Council, Hays, Kansas
2006 “Reflections”, Mercer Gallery, Garden City Community College, Kansas
2005 “Visual Diary”, Carnegie Arts Center, Dodge City, Kansas
2004 “Portals”, Little Theater, Dodge City Community College, Kansas
2003 “Reflections”, Artcite Gallery, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
2003 “Sound of Nature”, Artspeak Gallery, Windsor, Ontario
2002 “Northern Landscapes”, Common Ground Gallery, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
2001 “Windsor Paints”, Mackenzie Hall, Windsor, Canada
2001 "Windsor Diary", Common Ground Gallery, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
2000 "New Wor(l)ds, LeBel Gallery, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario,
Canada
2000 "Country Scapes", Leamington Arts Centre, Ontario, Canada
group shows