The second phase of the Undergraduate Graduation Exhibition of the Central Academy of Fine Arts opened as scheduled on June 8, showcasing works by 28 undergraduate students from the Printmaking Department in the exhibition halls on the second floor of the Art Museum. Using media including woodcut, watermark lithography, lithography, etching, silkscreen, mixed materials, video and installation art, all their creations converge on one core approach: through the act of "printing", they make authentic choices amid the ambiguous space between the physical boundaries of printmaking and their inner emotions.
When printmaking is mentioned, many people still hold the stereotypical view that it is merely a form of duplication. Now, step into this year’s graduation exhibition of printmaking works at CAFA with us, and your preconceptions may well be overturned in an instant…
Artist: Chen Bifang
Title: Series of Flower Letters of the Four Seasons
Medium: Oil-based Woodcut
Size: 60cm × 180cm
Tutors: Wu Jiang, Tan Tan
Artist Statement: Winter fades and spring arrives, as years come and go in cycles. Rooted in the temporal sequence of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms, this series takes blooming flowers as its carrier. Through carving marks left by gravers, the fleeting beauty of seasonal transitions is eternally captured.
Artist: Dong Fuzhi
Title: Dialogue Without an Answer
Medium: Video, Watercolor, Screen Print
Size: Video: 11 minutes; Screen Print Poster: 50cm × 70cm
Tutors: Wu Hong, Zheng Qinyu
Artist Statement: I heard a cat meowing outside the window as daily life went on as usual. I asked my family if they had heard the sound, yet none of them had. They only recalled cats they had seen before, and ordinary routines kept unfolding. The meow grew louder and louder, while everyone around remained immersed in their daily affairs. They talked about the cat, yet none could catch its cry. One day, the property management confirmed that there was indeed a "cat" in this area. People finally heard the meowing. But what fate awaited this "cat" in the end...
Artist: Xu Fengjia
Title: Series Motion in Silence
Medium: Lithograph
Size: Various Sizes
Tutors: Kong Liang, Kang Jianfei, Jiang Fan, Jiang Miao
Artist Statement: This work employs the artistic language of printmaking to depict the subtle flows inherent in all things—like the endless stretch of running water, faint traces left by the wind, or the gentle flicker of flames. Amid tranquility, these delicate shifts appear exceptionally lucid and distinct.
Artist: Ding Yu'er
Title: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night
Medium: Copperplate Print, Mixed Media
Dimensions:120cm×40cm, 80cm×40cm, 15cm×15cm
Tutors: Kong Liang, Kang Jianfei, Jiang Fan, Jiang Miao
Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night consists of five copperplate prints presented in the form of light box installations. The work adopts a multi-layered structure: the bottom layer is the light source of the light box, with handcrafted and dyed paper layers sandwiched in the middle. When illuminated, the dyed paper forms a nebula-like colour field; the outermost layer is covered with the main copperplate prints made on washi paper. The intricate lines etched on the copperplate overlap with light-transmitting materials, creating a visual effect of floating, flickering and stretching across the image. The title is derived from the poem by Dylan Thomas. Rather than focusing on resistance itself, I lay more emphasis on the emotion of being reluctant to bid farewell. When countless things are destined to fade away, people will always look back out of deep attachment.
Artist: Kang Xin
Title: Nooks and Corners
Medium: Water-based Woodcut
Dimensions:
58cm×80cm, 22cm×25cm, 10cm×25cm,
45cm×32cm, 45cm×15cm, 45cm×40cm
Tutors: Huang Yang, Yang Hongwei
Artist Statement: Set against the backdrop of urban solitary living, Nooks and Corners focuses on tiny spaces concealed within daily routines: the edge of a bed, beside curtains, in front of cabinets, and by windows. Amid the fast-paced rhythm of city life, the soul finds no place to rest. Could art serve as a haven for respite? This was the initial question driving my creation. Comprising nine prints depicting nine secluded corners, the work avoids narrative storytelling and emotional expression, choosing only quiet observation. The fluid quality of water-based woodcut allows pigments to bleed and permeate naturally. Such partially uncontrollable imprints liberate creation from the pursuit of perfection—precision gives way to sincerity. Spiritual dwelling lies not in distant lands, but in the quiet corners where our gaze settles in moments of solitude.
Artist: Weng Junxi
Title: Records of the Mermaid
Medium: Electronic screen, wax, wooden frame, copperplate print, found objects
Dimensions: 200cm×200cm×200cm
Tutors: Wu Hong, Zheng Qinyu
Artist Statement: Inspired by a rereading of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid and the modern history of whaling, this work takes the mermaid as a metaphor to explore how individuals are shaped and dispossessed within larger power structures. The installation consists of three parts: wax-carved animation, residual wax plates from the animation, and an archival museum cabinet. Narrated in the first person, the animation uses the deformation of wax to visualize the agony of identity transformation, the loss of the right to self-definition under discipline, and eventual self-redemption. The museum cabinet constructs a pseudo-objective knowledge system, placing the mermaid in a position of being categorized and researched. The dual perspectives of personal testimony and circumstantial evidence jointly piece together a history of aphasia and alienation, laying bare the hidden exercise of power embedded in so-called objective records.
Artist: Wang Xiaoshan
Title: Retracing the Current: Rats Fleeing the Burnt Granary
Medium: Screen Print, Pastel Paper
Dimensions: 90cm × 70cm
Tutors: Kong Liang, Li Jun, Jiang Fan, Kang Jianfei, Jiang Miao
Artist Statement: This woodcut scroll selects poems about misunderstanding and conflicts from The Book of Songs. These poems have been translated repeatedly across diverse cultural languages. Core imagery is extracted from the finally generated texts to reconstruct the pictorial composition.
Artist: Bian Wuchen
Title: Gaze
Medium: Oil-based Woodcut
Dimensions: 120cm × 90cm
Tutors: Huang Yang, Yang Hongwei
Artist Statement: The work depicts a mysterious mountain forest space. Amid ferns stands an owl in quiet concentration, with sweeping streamlined white patterns stretching across the woodland, enveloping the scene in serene desolation.
Artist: Chen Gehui
Title: Island of Hidden Hearts
Medium: Multi-block Color Oil Woodcut
Dimensions: 182cm × 176cm
Tutors: Kong Liang, Kang Jianfei, Jiang Fan, Jiang Miao
Artist Statement:
From childhood onward, people habitually conceal their true selves to fit into social surroundings. Pastimes and confiding in others can never fully relieve pent-up emotions, for everyone harbours an inner self with nowhere to rest. I collected other people’s emotions and personalities through questionnaires, then created a series of independent, isolated figures to construct an inner world—the Island of Hidden Hearts—a haven to hold these desires and inner sentiments.
Serving as an emotional shelter in dreams, this place frees people from pretence, offering a space where feelings can settle and inner troubles slowly fade away. Though I shaped countless inner personas, only a few could be selected to build this world, for neither reality nor dreams can accommodate every individual’s inner being. This work does not advocate escaping from reality; it merely provides a resting place for emotions, allowing people to return to real life with greater peace of mind.
Artist: Yi Kexin
Title: Bubble Kingdom in Dreams – Emotion Chapter
Medium: Mixed Media
Dimensions: 270cm × 270cm × 250cm
Tutors: Wu Hong, Zheng Qinyu
Artist Statement:
Centered on the theme of emotion, this work seeks to externalize abstract, ineffable feelings into visual imagery throughout the creative process.
Fabricated from thermoformed acrylic sheets covered with PVC material, the installation releases emotions in diverse forms through the combination of light axes and spatial arrangement, taking on distorted, suspended, folded and other varied shapes.
It is hoped that the sculptural forms and emotional hues of the piece can resonate with audiences trapped in negative emotions.
Artist: Li Jie
Title: Slices of Urban Marketplace
Medium: Oil-based Woodcut, Rice Paper
Dimensions: 26cm × 34cm
Tutors: Wu Jiang, Tan Tan
Artist Statement: Amid rapid urbanization, traditional folk life scenes that embody distinctive local culture and warm neighbourhood bonds are gradually disappearing. Created through woodcut techniques, this body of work focuses on a typical public living space—the marketplace. Through meticulous carving, it documents, depicts and reflects upon the most authentic and plain everyday life around us.
Reservation Channel
The online reservation and ticket purchasing channel for the 2026 CAFA Graduation Season is now open. Visitors may reserve and purchase tickets via the WeChat Mini Program, official WeChat public account or official website of the Central Academy of Fine Arts Art Museum (please refer to the official website for detailed ticketing instructions). Reservations can be made up to 7 days in advance. Daily visitor quotas are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. The museum opens normally on Mondays throughout the graduation season. All reservations must be made under real-name registration with valid identification documents, and each person is allowed only one reservation per day. Visitors shall arrive at the museum at their reserved time upon successful reservation. During the graduation season, please present your ID card or other valid documents for verification at the dedicated ticketing entrance at the north gate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts to enter the museum.
