Born in 1984 in Huatong, Liaoning Province, China, Dong Yuan moved to Beijing to study at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, graduating in 2008 having majored in experimental art. The rigorous academic training Dong Yuan received at the Academy exposed her to the traditions of Western painting, where she immersed herself in the works of Renaissance masters. With meticulous realism and attention to detail Dong Yuan records the here and now, in a taxonomic process of ordering her world. When all else in life appears temporary and uncertain, these solidly modeled, convincingly rendered forms are a way of keeping chaos at bay.

Focusing on how the possessions and objects that fill the places we inhabit, Dong uses her artistic practice to reflect on everyday domestic life and familial relationships. Most recently Dong Yuan has been painting every single object in particular spaces onto singular separate canvases, including each successive apartment she has rented in Beijing.

Dong Yuan’s first solo exhibition ‘A Short History of Everything:Grandma’s House and Bosch’s Garden’ was at Gallery Yang, Beijing in 2013. Her work has also participated in group exhibitions across the Far East and has also been shown at Art Basel Hong Kong 2014 and ART 14, London.