Artist Statement 

Ruonan Yan depicts peaches in an intriguing way. Her peach paintings are not merely showing a flawless beauty, in addition to that, she likes to present complex emotions under the ecstatic surface.

Peach, the only subject in the paintings, has always been a symbol of youth and desire, two things that always associate with each other. Yan uses watercolor to create a great variety of texture. In her hand, every peach is unique.       

Yan’s other inspirations also include the book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and 1999 movie The Virgin Suicides by director Sofia Coppola .

Although Yan’s peach paintings are often read as a sexual expression, she has never thought of that way. But she doesn’t mind the audience to appreciate her work from different perspectives. 

在桃子系列作品中，闫若楠不仅仅只是想展示一种完美无瑕，而是希望能够表现出一种掩饰在华丽表面下的张力。

在解读桃子系列时，闫若楠经常用玛丽皇后作为参照。她是法国最后一位皇后，一生养尊处优，不知人间疾苦，最终被送上断头台。在闫若楠的想象中，玛丽皇后是一个纯真和邪恶的混合体，光鲜的外表下是一颗极度空虚的心灵。在桃子系列中，闫若楠也试图描绘这种甜美，却带有危险性的吸引力。

桃子一直以来都是年轻和欲望的象征，而这两种东西也互相关联。在现代语境中，闫若楠的桃子系列经常被认为带有性暗示，尽管她从没有这样考虑过。但她也并不介意观众用自己的方式解读她的作品。