Shao Fan | Time and Focus
Shao Fan 邵帆, born 1964, is a Beijing-based artist who explores deep ideas about time, nature, and how we see the world. He is known for a body of work centered on the rabbit, a subject he uses as a tool for a sustained artistic and philosophical study.
"Rabbit Array," Shao Fan, 2018
The rabbit entered Shao Fan's work through a simple event: a friend gave him one as a gift.
Its daily presence led him to a profound artistic question: how can an artist see from a perspective other than the human? He aims not to paint a rabbit as how a human sees it but to try and see "through the eyes of a rabbit". This shift turns the animal from a simple subject into what German curator Beate Reifenscheid calls a "monumental form" with an "unusual eternal atmosphere"—something timeless and dignified.
As Shao Fan says, "I’m not painting a rabbit, I’m painting a human". The work becomes less about depicting an animal and more about understanding life itself.
"Hand-licking Rabbit," Shao Fan, 2016
Creating these works is a slow, disciplined process that is central to their meaning. He builds the rabbit's form with thousands of tiny, repetitive ink strokes on rice paper. This intensive practice requires extreme concentration and "the slowing down of time". He describes the process as a form of "temporal alchemy", where the act of painting itself transforms time into a physical part of the artwork. The finished piece is dense and layered, feeling like a record of the hours of focus invested in it.
A guiding principle in Shao Fan's work is the Chinese concept of "Shen Lao" (审老). This term refers to a deep-seated cultural respect for the dignity and refined essence that time imparts to a person, object, or artistic tradition. For Shao Fan, it is not about nostalgia for the past. Instead, he actively investigates what he calls a state of "living antiquity"—a quality of enduring presence and quiet authority.
He uses his materials to express this idea. His ink paintings feel dense and layered. When he makes sculptures from wood, he often uses traditional joinery methods that highlight the material's natural age and grain. The goal is to create objects that feel both immediate and eternal.
"Project No. 1," Shao Fan, 2004
"King," Shao Fan, 1996
While rabbits are his most well-known subject, they are one part of a larger artistic world. His work includes tigers, inspired by symbols in the ancient I Ching; aged figures representing wisdom; and natural forms like cabbages, which suggest warmth and memory. Together, these subjects reflect a Taoist-inspired view of the world, where everything is connected.
"Cabbage," Shao Fan, 2024
A practice of deep inquiry into perception, material, and time, Shao Fan invites a slower, more contemplative way of seeing.
