Dafu Yan
Dafu Yan (b. 1994) received his MA from Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London, and is currently based in Hangzhou. His practice investigates the space—both conceptual and physical—between the macro-anxieties of geopolitics and the micro-realities of individual existence. Working primarily through installation, sculpture, and painting, he translates abstract tensions of safety and unease into a material “negotiation” between object and space.
Yan approaches his studio as a testing ground, where material properties and manual processes act as conceptual “generators.” His works form circulatory systems that connect external phenomena with internal perception—functioning not as declarative statements, but as provisional sites for contemplation, touch, and potential reconfiguration.
Portrait of Dafu Yan. Courtesy of the artist.
