➤ Yán eventually enrolled in the Nanjing Art Institute, where he carved in jade, wood, and stone, worked in ceramic sculpture, and studied brush painting and calligraphy. He graduated in 1982 and then taught for the next five years at that Institute while creating his own art. At that point he was able to obtain a visa to study at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California.

Following graduation from the Academy of Art, Yán (now “Joseph” Yán) worked for a short time creating landscape and sculpture art for Asian-inspired gardens. In 1989 his wife Huáng Xiǎo Qín (黃曉勤 “Janny”) was able to join him with their four-year-old daughter, Katy. Together they founded the Joseph Fine Art School and Gallery where they became a fixture of San Francisco’s Richmond District community for the next 23 years.

Yán now uses traditional Chinese landscape-painting techniques to portray American scenic landscapes. His preferred style of calligraphy is lìshū, or clerical script.