LI Yanpeng was born in 1958 in Hobei Province, China. He graduated from the printmaking department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1981. He is now a professor and chief of the printmaking studio of the Fine Arts College of Qingdao University. Li won the Silver Award at the sixteenth National Print Works Exhibit.
His stories about village life in the Taihang Mountains are told by his "waste-block prints" (also known as reduction woodblock prints). The language of the prints is realistic, vivid, and natural. In contrast to prettiness, his focus is the spontaneous expression of his appreciation for earthy life.
From the "Stones" series which he worked on in the early 1990s, Li began in 1994 to work on the "Warm Winter" series, and then moved to the "On the Field" series. With this change, his technique also changed from mixed plates to waste-block oil prints. He mingled the gray scales in the black-and-white woodblocks with colors carved out by even more versatile engravings.
The three different stages clearly showed his migration from discovery to expression. By adding more spiritual content, he inspired viewers to think beyond boundaries. The beauty he perceives in life and nature give vitality to his images. To Li, sincerity is what ignites emotion.
I grew up in a village. Though having been living in the city for over twenty years, I am still attached to the village life and lingered at the villages several time every year. The commonly seen village scenes like the barren loess, tame sheep herds, lone stone huts, and scattered grass mounds are all so beautiful and accommodative in my eyes. In search of fidelity, homeliness, and nature, the "Warm Winter" series showed these ordinary village lives by a plain artistic language. Many plain things in life are actually very beautiful and suitable for paintings in their original forms. Too many manipulations trade fidelity for symbolism but fake the essence of arts. In my mind, truth is beauty.