Mary Qian

Mary Qian went to Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah where she earned her BFA in Fine Arts and Illustration, August 1998.

Originally from Shanghai, China, Mary went through the traditional Chinese educational system focusing on the sciences while studying Chinese painting and calligraphy on her own. Before coming to the U.S., she admired the ancient Chinese painters but found her true voice for painting when she discovered the western artists. It was the realism of Rembrandt, Velazquez, Repin, her particular favorites that she found to be the artistic style that she had been looking for. "I feel my art is like an open diary. It records my life and the life around me. My paintings are my preferred way to explain myself to the world. They speak of the things I don't know how to put into words. Painting is a process and it connects me with my sitters and the viewers. It is a bridge between past and present. I want to paint people, because people intrigue me, especially during the process of communication in silence. I hope viewers will feel what I felt in the moments of painting. See what inspired me!"

Awards
2010 Oil Painters of America Gold Medal Award
2009 Oil Painters of America Award of Excellence
2009 Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Fellowship Award
2008-09 Art Renewal Center (ARC) International Salon, Finalist
Salon International 2007, Best of Show
Gold Medal Show in Palette and Chisel, Chicago in 2005, First Place
Artist's Magazine annual international art Competition 2004, First Place (Figure Category)
Gold medal show in Palette and Chisel in 2004, Second Place
Artist's Magazine annual international art Competition 2003, Finalist (Figure Category)
Helen Memorial Award in 2001 American Professional League Exhibition in New York City (Oil Painting)
2nd Place in 2001 Utah Pastel Society Annual Show

«Return to Artist List