French watercolors capture rapidly changing China

French watercolor painter and collage artist Cécile Granier de Cassagnac has unveiled her debut exhibition at the Yishu 8 art gallery that captures the 32-year-old's impressions of China. Last year, the Paris-born artist won the Yishu 8 Art Prize - a scholarship that promotes cultural exchanges between Europe and China.

"In China, everything seems possible," de Cassagnac told the Global Times. "I visited the Great Wall of China when I was in Beijing and felt like I had stepped inside a Song Dynasty (960-1279) painting." De Cassagnac, who lives in a hutong, insists her life in Beijing is "both traditional and modern." Since moving to China last year, she has been creatively inspired.

De Cassagnac was born in Paris in 1979 and graduated from the National School of Fine Arts in Paris. She then studied at the Sydney College of the Art in Australia and at the Workshop of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. She came to China in autumn last year in the latest adventure of her artistic career. Her paintings usually focus on nature, with animals and landscapes being common subjects.

De Cassagnac noted that China's rapid development in recent years has spawned a fertile environment where creativity has flourished. Great changes provide space and possibilities for new ideas, she said. "France and other European countries have a proud heritage involving art and its innovation, however that innovation seems to have slowed in recent years. China on the other hand is at the start of exciting, creative chapter," she said. "The country is changing quickly, which brings both positive and negative things."

Yishu 8 Prize winners stay in Beijing for three months, during which time they are encouraged to immerse themselves in the culture and create artworks that promote Sino-European friendship.

Where: Yishu 8 Art Gallery, 20 Dong Huangchenggen Bei Jie, Dongcheng district,

When: Until January 30

Admission: Free

Contact: 6581-9058