Emotion is the essential thing in my work. It is an intense drive that motivates me to search for, understand and express humanity. Most of my works are inspired by my everyday experience which may often be little trifles or incidents, but a fleeting impression from life can develop into a deep emotion.
As a visual artist, form is the first and foremost element for me. Thus, I endeavor to express the Absent (emotion) through the Present (visual form). In my pursuit of emotions, the visual forms have become emancipated from the canvas and gained a life of their own.
Jiaxuan Yi is a Canada-based artist. He graduated with distinction from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, receiving a diploma in fine arts, a B.A. degree in Painting and an M.A. degree in Drawing Research. After that, he furthered his education in Art History as well as calligraphy in the Visual Culture Research Institute and the Calligraphy Theory and History Research Institute in the Academy. His work ranges across several genres, including portraits, figures, still life, landscapes, ink paintings and calligraphy. As a practitioner of ink art from an early age, he has exhibited his works and won national prizes. During his university days, he received multiple scholarships and awards for both his graduation project and thesis.
In recent years, Jiaxuan is becoming recognised in the contemporary art scene across many countries like Canada, UK, and USA. He has not only gained recognition from world- renowned professional and academic institutions, with his works selected for exhibitions organized by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Society of Marine Artists, New English Art Club, the Royal Ulster Academy of Arts, the Royal West of England Academy, the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, the South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts in the UK, the Allied Artists of America, the Portrait Society of Canada, and the Society of Canadian Artists, Shodo Canada, but has also won international awards like the Charles Pears Award 2024 by the Royal Society of Marine Artists, Highly Commended Award 2024 by the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Kenzaburo Date Memorial Award in the 17th Japanese Calligraphy Competition by Shodo Canada, the Biafarin Award in 55th Open International Juried Exhibition of the Society of Canadian Artists, Seventh Place in the landscape category, Tenth Place in the portrait category and Finalist in the still life category in Members Only Competition of the Portrait Society of America, Select Fifty Award in 24th Annual International Portrait Competition of the Portrait Society of America, CollexArt Sponsored Artist Website Award in 2021, and CollexArt Artist Profile Page Award in 2022. Moreover, his artworks have been published in Canadian contemporary art magazines like Artistonish,The Book of Art, and Observica
Jiaxuan is an Elected Member of the Society of Canadian Artists (SCA), Ontario Society of Artist(OSA) and the Portrait Society of Canada (PSC).
