No. 066
Tom Yang
Pastoral melodies beneath the snow-capped mountains
50x60cm
Oil painting on wood panel
2025
US$2,000
The three sacred mountains of Daocheng Yading in western Sichuan—Xiannairi, Yangmaiyong, and Xianuoduoji—are spiritual sanctuaries for the Tibetan people of Garzê, symbolizing Compassion, Wisdom, and Power, respectively. At the foot of Xiannairi, the Mountain of Compassion, three horses are depicted grazing leisurely or standing tall on the grassy slopes—a quintessential silhouette of daily nomadic life on the plateau.
In the Chinese cultural context, the horse has long been a totem of strength and progress, its traits aligning with the Chinese virtues of perseverance and industriousness. Through the artistic language of oil painting, the artist juxtaposes "sacred spiritual belief" with the "rhythm of daily life." This is a nuanced interpretation of the deep integration of faith and existence in Chinese culture: just as the sacred mountains harbor a thousand years of spiritual vigil while witnessing the ceaseless flow of nomadic life, the work composes the unique vitality of plateau culture through the intertwining of tradition and the present.
About the Artist
Tom Yang
（China，b.1995）
MFA in Oil Painting, China Academy of Art. Full-time faculty at Chengdu Academy of Fine Arts, Sichuan Conservatory of Music. Based in Chengdu. His work focuses on the “city” he lives in and the “people” around him. Approaching his subjects from the perspective of witnessing urban development and through personal observation, he draws on compositional strategies and viewpoints from both Chinese and Western classical painting. He seeks to capture the transformations of the city and the states of its inhabitants. While his style is realist, the use of grayscale tones emphasizes the inner spirit and the life relationships between the figures and their surrounding environment. The sense of temporality and the emotional states of the subjects resonate within the paintings. His works have been exhibited at Jiangsu Art Museum, Zhejiang Art Museum, and Ningbo Art Museum.