A unique art form celebrates the splendors of Antarctica

Wang Xuyuan, artist [Photo provided to China Daily]

Zheng Jie, a senior engineer at the institute, says artists in the West have created many works on Antarctica. But he says that using fine art to promote scientific research to the public is still relatively new in China.

"It's only a start," says Zheng. "Wang has set an example for others to focus on Antarctica and other scientific issues.

"As creativity booms in China, a lot can be done to improve public awareness about what scientists are doing."

Wang plans to move his exhibition on Antarctica to a public space in the near future.

In 1998, when Wang was a visiting scholar at the University of Maryland, he taught US students Chinese calligraphy.

"But I found it difficult to teach them the script, so I chose to explain it as pictures," says Wang. "That is how I quit my job as an urban designer and switched to art."

Wang, who was invited by the organizing committee of Beijing Olympic Games to showcase his work, staged his first major solo exhibition about the Olympics in 2008 at the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Beijing.

In 2010, he staged another exhibition on the Shanghai Expo.

Wang says it takes a relatively short time to create each work, but a long time is needed before picking up the brushes.

He says once he begins to paint it is like a dancing, which cannot be stopped.