The Chinese artist Shen Ling (申玲) grew up in a small coastal town in Liaoning province in eastern China. As she explains, ‘Although we were poor at that time, our home was always full of laughter. My mother loved to sing. She would always sing when she was cooking, washing dishes, or doing laundry. My father was versatile and could play many musical instruments. It was he who taught me to paint – I started to create art very early, and have been painting ever since.’

Shen Ling graduated from high school to Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1985, and in 1989 received her bachelor’s degree from the Oil Painting Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts, where she now works. Her first solo exhibition was in 1988 at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, and recent exhibitions include ‘Intensity of Solidity’ at the Tang Contemporary Art, Hong Kong, in 2019, and ‘Empty Flowers’ at Tang Contemporary Art in Beijing in 2022. She sometimes exhibits with her partner, Wang Yuping, who is a more traditional artist.

Shen Ling’s website (in Chinese) can be found here, though it appears not to have been updated since 2015.

We are very grateful to our Russian friend Yuri for suggesting the inclusion of this artist, and for supplying most of the images.