Lan Wang (b. 1953), artist, was born in Beijing, China and at sixteen was sent to work as a farm labourer in China's Great Northern Wilderness for nine years during the Cultural Revolution. She met the artist Jiawei Shen in 1975, before going on to study printmaking at the Lu-Xun Academy of Fine Art in Shenyang, graduating with a Master of Art. Wang then taught at the academy, as well as working and exhibiting as an artist. Shen became a specialist in history paintings, many of which he produced for public collections. One picture, however – a depiction of heroes of the Chinese nationalist movement – necessitated his departure from China in 1989. Wang was pregnant when he left; it was two years before they were reunited in Sydney, where Shen met their daughter Xini for the first time. A painter, printmaker and woodcarver, Wang's work has been included in solo and group exhibitions and is held in private and public collections, including the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. A book about her life and work, Wang Lan, was published by Wild Peony in 2010. Wang is a founding member of the Art Trail of Bundeena, south of Sydney, and regularly opens her studio for visitors.
