Artist Yiming Fan Captures the Unshakable Faith on Canvas

English by Gigi Tseng / Chinese by Ann Lin
Pictures courtesy of Yiming Fan

Have you ever looked up at a portrait and found yourself caught in the subjects’ gaze? They seem so alive that you long to jump into the painting to speak with them, learn their story, and see the world through their eyes. That’s the kind of magic found in the works of Sweden-based artist Yiming Fan.

In his painting Udumbara Flower Blooms, the viewer’s attention is immediately drawn to an elderly Tibetan monk standing solemn and serene, holding a prayer wheel in one hand and a string of japamala beads in the other. Behind him stretches the vast sky. From a distance, a bird, seemingly carved from stone, flies toward him, carrying a withered bodhi leaf in its beak. At the tip of the leaf blooms a single udumbara. Legend has it that this rare blossom foretells good fortune and appears only once every 3,000 years.

Perhaps that is why a sudden joy and surprise brightens the monk’s meditative expression as his eyes meet the bird’s. His gentle gaze speaks volumes of enduring faith and hope. This oil-on-canvas piece, about 2.5 feet tall, was completed in 2012, shortly after the artist was released from an unjust sentence in a communist Chinese labor camp.

Fan is a practitioner of Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, an ancient meditation discipline rooted in Buddhist traditions. Its gentle exercises and focus on improving one’s moral character through the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, have brought significant mental and physical health benefits to practitioners around the world.  

However, under China’s authoritarian regime, adherents of this peaceful practice are brutally persecuted. Since 1999, millions have been arrested, sent to labor camps, and even tortured to death.

A person’s deepest thoughts and emotions are often laid bare in their art. Though Fan endured years of torment, his work shows no trace of anger or pain. Instead, it shines with the strength of one who chooses to face the world with kindness and peace after emerging from darkness.

The Steadfast Spirit 

Ever since his first visit to Tibet in 1999, Fan has been deeply moved by its serene, snowcapped mountains. Over the years, he has traveled deep into the region, channeling his love for Tibet and the devout faith of its people into his art.

What captured Fan’s fascination and respect is not the kind of “devotion” often seen today— prayers made in hopes of receiving blessings or material gain—but a pure, selfless reverence for the divine. He once met an elderly Tibetan man who had twice made the pilgrimage from Gannan to Lhasa, performing full-body prostrations along the approximately 960-mile journey. Enduring harsh conditions, it took him eight months to complete the pilgrimage. The man’s perseverance left a lasting impression on Fan. “That is how humans should be,” he said.

Thus, rather than painting typical Tibetan landscapes or temples, Fan chooses to focus on capturing the people’s spiritual strength. In his paintings, the subjects carry themselves with dignity, their gaze calm and resolute, as if in conversation with the heavens. Eschewing vibrant colors, Fan favors muted tones and brushstrokes that mimic the texture of stone.

“What moves me most is their unwavering faith,” he told Elite. “I want to capture that feeling and turn it into a fossil—something eternal.”

Today, Fan is one of the few artists dedicated to portraying Tibetan life through realist oil painting. Though he jokes that he’s slow to respond and not much of a talker, he is remarkably perceptive with a brush in hand. Through his thoughtful use of colors and composition, the emotions and ideas he struggles to put into words come to life on the canvas.

In early 2000, Fan was invited several times to host exhibitions in London. His painting Tibetan Boy won the Silver Award at the 2008 New Tang Dynasty’s International Figure Painting Competition. His artistic journey was later documented by Hungarian-based writer Zemin Yu in the 2016 biography Yiming’s Tibet: The Art and Life of Oil Painter Fan Yiming.

After relocating to Sweden in 2018, Fan continued to paint. His work Tse Ring Kyi, the Tibetan Girl won the Artelibre Award in Spain’s 2022 ModPortrait competition. In 2023, he again gained international recognition at NTD’s figure-painting competition, receiving the Outstanding Technique Award for Tse Ring Kyi as well as Tibetan Youth.

A Spiritual Awakening 

Fan wasn’t always spiritual. Raised in communist China, he was a staunch atheist who scoffed at religious beliefs. But in 1997, his health took a downturn; even climbing up a flight of stairs became difficult. That’s when he remembered a friend had once mentioned the health benefits of Falun Dafa and introduced him to Zhuan Falun, the main text of the practice. 

Though initially skeptical, Fan quieted his mind and began to read. Over time, he came to appreciate the spiritual depth of Falun Dafa’s principles. By following its teachings, which urge one to focus on self-improvement rather than chasing results, he found that personal growth came naturally, as did healing. “I even forgot I had arrhythmia,” he said. “The symptoms disappeared quickly.”

Since embarking on this spiritual journey, Fan’s artwork underwent a complete transformation. “After I began cultivating myself, my sense of beauty and aesthetics changed,” he said. Where he once chased modern trends and sensational themes, he now dedicates himself to perfecting traditional realism. For Fan, artwork that fails to move its viewers loses its very meaning. It was this shift in perspective that opened his eyes to the simple grace of Tibetan life and the sincere devotion of its people.

Darkest Before Dawn 

In 2008, during the Beijing Olympics, Fan was unlawfully arrested and sentenced to two years in a Beijing forced labor camp. Despite the harsh reality, he still considered himself “lucky.” At that time, China was under international scrutiny and eager to project a peaceful image. With the world watching, authorities were pressured to temporarily ease off on physical torture.

“Around the time I was arrested, a fellow practitioner died from being beaten and shocked with electric batons,” he said. “Once the Olympics began, the guards weren’t allowed to use batons as freely. That’s why I didn’t receive the same treatment.”

Though physical abuse eased, the psychological torment was constant. “When we walked, we had to keep our arms tightly pressed to our sides. It was as if we were bound by invisible ropes,” Fan recalled. “We were forced to walk only along the edges of the walls and pivot corners at precisely 90-degree angles. … Every time we entered a room, we had to announce ourselves. We weren’t allowed to speak freely. We were turned into machines.” 

Even after returning home, the trauma stayed with him. “A week or two after my release, I went to the bank,” Fan said. “The moment I stepped through the door, I instinctively pulled my foot back—I hadn’t announced myself.” This behavior, ingrained through repeated beatings, had become muscle memory. 

To Fan’s dismay, he also lost the ability to perceive colors normally. “My sense of aesthetics became distorted. I was suddenly drawn to bright, garish colors because everything inside [the camp] had been so dull and gray. Colors that once felt tacky now seemed appealing,” he said. Worse still, he could no longer paint. No matter what he put on the canvas, something always felt off. With each failed attempt, his frustration deepened. 

Thankfully, this problem was resolved with Fan’s return to Tibet. For over 20 days, he immersed himself in its remote, uninhabited regions. There, amongst the vast plateaus and endless blue skies, his body and spirit began to heal, and gradually, the natural rhythm of his brush returned.

For nearly two decades, Fan took an annual trip to Tibet for inspiration. “Their clothing and way of life had remained unchanged for thousands of years … until very recently,” he said. He lamented the rapid changes over the past decade brought on by the Chinese regime’s push for tourism, new policies, and the systematic destruction of Tibetan culture. Still, he holds onto hope that he’ll one day return to that pure and sacred land.

While in the labor camp, Fan witnessed the quiet resilience of Falun Gong practitioners. Despite enduring unimaginable pain, their faith never wavered. He saw strength in their compassion, and those moments are etched in his memory.

It has been 26 years since the Chinese Communist Party launched its repression of Falun Gong, and its slanders and persecution continue to this day. Throughout these decades, practitioners have made it their mission to clarify the truth to the world and have never ceased their peaceful appeals.

After moving to Sweden, Fan happily embraced his newfound artistic freedom, and with it, a new theme he’s eager to explore. He’s set to participate once again in NTD’s 2025 Figure Painting Competition, but this time, he will create works that center around the stories of Falun Gong practitioners and their peaceful resistance.

“This is a part of my own experience, but it’s not just my story,” he said. Fan believes platforms such as the NTD competitions are incredibly meaningful because they allow artists to tell stories long-silenced in China and give voice to a spiritual belief that transformed not only his life, but the lives of millions. And for him, that is what matters most.

Note: The Finalist Exhibition of the 2025 NTD International Figure Painting Competition will be held in January 2026 in New York City. To attend or learn more about the competition, please visit oilpainting.ntdtv.com 

© ELITE Lifestyle Magazine