Yan Yaya (L) together with Granny Xia'nihan
Yan Yaya, an artist who excels in making oil paintings, made her first visit to Pamir Plateau, in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in 1987. She was deeply impressed by the bright sunshine and the simple and honest residents.
Since that year, she has frequently traveled between Beijing and Pamir Plateau, and she has created many paintings that highlight the images of the Tajik people living on the plateau.
"For me, Pamir Plateau is a mecca, which is a safe and sound home for our souls. The plateau means much more than a place that I like to depict in my paintings," says Yan.
Tajik is an ethnic group, the people of which live on Pamir Plateau. Their faces and body shapes are suitable to be depicted — by clear lines — in oil paintings.
During her first visit to Pamir Plateau, in 1987, Yan was attracted by the Tajik people's dignity, self-esteem and pureness.
"Even though elderly people put worn scarves on their heads, they straightened their backs whenever they were sitting, standing or walking. I looked up to them, from the bottom of my heart, no matter how old they were," Yan recalls.
In 2003, Yan held a solo exhibition at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), in Beijing. The theme of her exhibition was "Sunshine and Angel." Her 36 paintings on exhibit presented the portraits of more than 100 children.
Each child had a unique emotional expression in his/her eyes. "I spent a lot of time staying with those children. I ate meals with them, and I lived with them. I watched them growing up, from three or four years old till they got married. I have witnessed the charms of each child," Yan says.
In some of her early paintings, Yan liked to depict snowy mountains and yurts, in the background. But, later, she liked to depict children's portraits under bright sunlight. "Being a woman and an artist myself, I want to create a wonderful world for all the children, whom I consider as my angels," she explains.
Yan held another exhibition, also at NAMOC, in 2009. She displayed 30 huge portraits. Many spectators wrote on the guestbook that they were "shocked" by Yan's paintings. In particular, there was a portrait of an old Tajik woman.
Yan named the work "Granny." In that painting, Yan depicted the features of an elderly woman's face. "I used to see the granny every time I went to Pamir Plateau. She was about 1.8 meters tall. She often wore a black gown and a white scarf on her head. When I looked at her, standing high on a mountain, I thought she was so beautiful, as if she were a goddess."
Yan recalled one day during the winter of 2006. "I was driving up into the mountain, and I wanted to visit children living there. As I saw the granny standing high on the mountain, I got out of my car and ran toward her.
She walked slowly toward me. When I was quite close to her, she opened her arms, embraced me and gave me a kiss on my forehead. I would never forget her face, bright eyes and hands. I stayed with her for a whole day, during which I drew a lot of sketches of her."
After she returned from the mountain, Yan said she spent 40 days completing an oil painting, which was the granny's portrait. She took a photo of her painting and went to the mountain again. She hoped the grandmother would be the first spectator of that painting.
"It was already nightfall when I went to see the granny. She looked at the photo, did not say anything, but she was so excited that both of her hands shook slightly. Given her reaction, I could tell that I had created the painting successfully."
Yan added that she told the granny she would visit her again the following year. However, unfortunately, by the time Yan returned to the mountain in 2007, the elderly woman had passed away.
Now, whenever Yan returns to her studio, she always stands in front of the grandmother's portrait for a while. She says the granny's eyes make her feel at peace. "Works of art provide me a way to express what I have learned from my life.
Those Tajik people I have met have nourished my heart and changed my life. They have inspired me to create paintings. Their influence upon me will benefit me throughout my life," she says.
Little Xirenguli (2013)
Yizhati in Red Scarf (2015)
Granny Xia'nihan (2006)