To find you, I entered a new world. I never imagined that the colors we love would come back into my work in this way.

—— Lin Yan

Entering the exhibition from behind the black curtain, silver leaves are scattered across the black backdrop and white walls. A daughter in a long green dress pushes her mother’s wheelchair—yet on the wheelchair rest an antique vase and wildflowers… Leaning slantwise on a bright yellow sofa before a circular black backdrop is a purple-hued figure, its limbs, head and hair fashioned from crumpled Xuan paper. Amidst its contortions lies a sense of mystery, ease and serenity. Among a row of hanging white Xuan paper, we see an old sewing machine and a coarse cloth dress evoke the long companionship between Lin Yan and her mother. On the other side, on her grandfather’s easel hangs a sensual, elegant black evening gown on a mannequin—and the head of a vintage straw box. What historical memories does it bear? In front of three propped-up painting tool boxes, Xuan paper and paintbrushes peeking out from the sleeves of a linen long dress embody her bond with her parents…

After years of studying, working and living in New York, Lin Yan returned to Beijing during the pandemic period. Over six years of close companionship caring for and bidding farewell to her mother, her perception of life and the world transformed amid the trivialities of daily life, and her artistic language of Xuan paper, black and white evolved subtly as well.

In Alkaid, Lin Yan uses inked and Xuan paper to construct space and structure, while placing her designed dresses made from fabric left behind by her mother as a guiding thread. This allows the colors that her parents and she had all loved to return to her black and white art world. She says that in this way, she can feel her parents being present with her forever.

Past the dim darkness, at the far end of the exhibition space, Lin Yan has set up a white-toned installation with lighting. Is it a glimmer of hope? Or the gentle comfort of a soul glancing back, only to find its beloved one in the faint glow of twilight?

Is the exhibition ‘Alkaid’ a breakthrough in Lin Yan’s thinking after years of navigating between East and West and then settling into deeper introspection? Or is it an artistic boomerang she hurls at our rapidly spinning, shattering world after her profound reflection?

Gu Yan

23 May 2026, Beijing