Untitled: CHO YAN (YANN) Pushes the Boundaries of Oil Painting Through Fluidity and Emotion
At the Future Art & Design Award 2026 Summer Season, Hong Kong-based artist CHO YAN (YANN) received the Silver Prize in the Oil Painting category for Untitled, a work reflecting an ongoing exploration of figurative art, emotional imagination, fluid textures, and contemporary approaches to traditional painting. Developed alongside a full-time career in accounting, Yan’s artistic practice demonstrates a sustained commitment to experimentation across materials and techniques while seeking new possibilities within the language of oil painting.
Working across oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastel, charcoal, pencil, and mixed media, Yan draws inspiration from emotions embedded within everyday life. Traditional techniques are combined with contemporary influences, technological elements, and experimental textures, creating a visual language characterised by fluidity, optical qualities, imagination, and emotional expression.
This is body art on canvas with liquid oil medium which transformed the light into digital art complexity with two difference effective on vision.
This piece originates as body-base on canvas, created with a fluid oil medium that captures the immediacy of touch and movement. I use the body as both instrument and imprint, allowing gestures to translate directly into my texture and form. As the liquid oil interacts with light, the surface becomes dynamic—reflective, shifting, and alive with subtle motion.
Through digital transformation, the work enters a second stage of existence. Light is converted into data, and the physical marks of the body evolve into intricate digital structures. This process produces two distinct visual effects: one grounded in the tactile presence of oil on canvas, and another shaped by digital complexity, where depth, luminosity, and contrast expand beyond what the eye perceives in the physical world.
The artwork ultimately becomes a dialogue between material and technology. It invites viewers to consider how human expression can be preserved, altered, and re-imagined through digital interpretation, revealing new layers of meaning within the interplay of body, medium, and light.
Interview
Q. Please give us a brief introduction about yourself and your creative background.
YANN: Alongside my full-time career in accounting, I am an art creator based in Hong Kong, dedicated primarily to figurative art.
I work with a diverse range of media, including oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastel, charcoal, pencil, and mixed media. My works also take different forms, from canvas and wood panels to art installations.
My artistic inspiration is deeply rooted in the imagination of emotions. Drawing creative material from everyday emotional experiences, I explore ways of transforming traditional oil painting techniques through technology and contemporary approaches, incorporating fluid textures and technological elements into my visual language.
I am particularly interested in capturing the nuances of ordinary moments and transforming them into artistic expression.
Q. What inspired you to pursue a career in art and design?
YANN: Although I currently create art alongside another professional career, I hope my artistic practice can continue to develop and eventually become a greater part of my professional life.
I would like my work to create opportunities for international communication and collaboration, including connections with different industries and creative disciplines.
Q. Can you describe the creative process behind your work and what motivates you to create?
YANN: I am dedicated to creating art through a diverse range of materials and techniques, guided by a spirit of experimentation and exploration.
My creative drive comes from continually testing artistic boundaries. By bringing together traditional and modern elements, I seek to construct imagery that is distinctive and rich in meaning. Each work reflects the intimate connection between emotion and imagination while balancing conceptual inspiration with creative execution.
I constantly explore new artistic possibilities in order to maintain the vitality and evolution of my practice. Whether through vibrant colour, profound textures, or the interaction between different media, my goal is to create art that resonates with audiences and expands their perception of the possibilities within the world around them.
Q. What was the most exciting or challenging part of creating the work you submitted to the competition?
YANN: One of the most challenging aspects was deciding which category best represented the work.
I recognise that my practice can share characteristics with several artistic categories, which makes classification itself an interesting challenge. At the same time, this reflects my continued desire to push beyond conventional boundaries and explore what traditional oil painting can become through experimentation.
Q. How would you describe your creative style and the key characteristics that define your work?
YANN: Fluidity and optical qualities are important characteristics of my work, alongside imagism and emotionalism.
Together, these elements allow me to explore the relationship between visual perception, imagination, and emotion while developing a contemporary interpretation of traditional painting.
Q. What has been your experience participating in the competition?
YANN: Participating in competitions has given me valuable experience and helped me develop a clearer understanding of how to position my work within a broader artistic context.
Receiving the Silver Prize has also provided another opportunity to reflect on the direction of my practice and how it may continue to evolve.
Q. Where do you see the future of the art and design industry heading in the next 5–10 years?
YANN: Creation knows no boundaries. To me, creativity is a mysterious, awe-inspiring, and ultimately inimitable force.
I believe artistic creation should not be confined by predetermined limits or time constraints. Its future will continue to emerge through experimentation, imagination, and the willingness to explore possibilities beyond established definitions.
Editor’s Note
Untitled emerges from a practice built upon contrasts: a structured professional life alongside artistic experimentation, traditional oil painting alongside contemporary technology, and recognisable visual forms alongside fluidity and imagination.
Rather than treating oil painting as a fixed medium, CHO YAN (YANN) approaches it as a field for continued exploration. Fluid textures, optical qualities, emotional impulses, and influences from different materials contribute to a practice that deliberately resists being confined to a single category. Even the challenge of determining where the work belongs reflects this broader creative philosophy.
Recognised with the Silver Prize at the Future Art & Design Award 2026 Summer Season, Untitled represents an evolving artistic journey in which experimentation remains central. Through the meeting of emotion, imagination, material, and technique, Yan continues to investigate how an established medium can accommodate new forms of contemporary expression.
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Biography:
Artist: YANN
Art nature: Body on canvas, installation, wood-printing, mixed media, digital art.
Location: Hong Kong based
Founder of V Amour Art non-profit organization (Hong Kong), 2013
The Association Chartered Certified Accountants, SA No.5533146, part qualified
University of Sunderland in BA (Hons) Accounting and Financial Management 2024
Art Teacher (part time, utilize my weekends sometimes if my scheduled allow)
Artist (Art Creator)
Influencer/ Arts & humanities website facebook.com/yann.emo.art
Chronology in Art:
2025 - 16th Edition of Contemporary Venice 2025 (Italy)
2024 - Presented by Aesthetica Magazine Issue 116 (UK)
2021 - PAKS Gallery representation (Munich)
2021 - PAKS Gallery representation (Vienna)
2021 - Presented by About Art Magazine by PAKS Gallery (Austria)
2020 - MAMAG Modern Art Museum on November by PAKS Gallery (Austria)
2020 - Presented by Aesthetica Magazine Issue 93 (UK)
2018 - Presented by Aesthetica Magazine Issue 82 (UK)
2016 - Contemporary Art Vision Exhibition on 29 Sep to 30 Dec by PAKS Gallery (Austria)
2016 - 12th Contemporary Art Fair Montreux on 9 - 13 Nov by PAKS Gallery (Switzerland)
2016 - Carrousel du Louvre 19th Contemporary Art Fair on 21 - 23 Oct by PAKS Gallery (France)
2016 - Masters of Modern Art Exhibition on 25 Aug to 24 Sep by PAKS Gallery (Austria)
2016 - Beijing International Book Fair(BIBF) 24 - 28 Aug 2016 by GAA (Beijing)
2016 - Contemporary Art of Excellence 2016 by GAA (UK)
10/2014 - 01/2016 - Presented by Aesthetica Magazine (UK)
2015 - SWCC Exhibition on 14 - 17 September by V AMOUR ART(HK)
2014 - Sense99 Exhibition on 21 March to 25 April by V AMOUR ART(HK)
2013 - The founder of V AMOUR ART Non-Profit Organization (HK)
2013 - Higher Diploma of Fine Art in First Institute of Art and Design (HK)
