Ravines, mountains, and trees creep up Huang Yan’s torso, then cascade over arms down to the fingertips. In literati ink painting, the human figure is often secondary to the landscape. Here, however, it looms large. As body becomes canvas, the title, Chinese Shanshui Tattoo, suddenly rings truer. While the paint has already begun to fleck off, it is more than skin-deep. The tradition of ink painting is indelibly impressed upon the artist’s heart.

© Huang Yan, photo: Maurice Aeschimann, Geneva