Quick with an enchanting smile and laugh,Niu An seldom appears at a loss for words.However,the featherweight figure with the heavyweight's brush does fret a bit about any highbrow discussion of her paintings,preferring to surrender nearly all interpretation to the viewer.

Ten years removed from her native Shanghai with stints living in Japan, Korea and most recently America£¬the avant-grade child grew up with an outward experience,but returns home with a deeply inward look£®Her recent show,Entering£º0ne Woman Exhibition£¬at the Liu HaisU Art Museum,displayed an intensely contemplative warmth and beauty and drew quite a favorable 
response during the city's busy art events period.The heart of Niu's latest paintings lies in the bodily entanglements of human form framed bold,color-rich hues.Her multitudes of line strokes initially appear rather loose on the canvas£¬but clearly meld into careful,rhythmic breaths of form to deliver a deep message about the body and the essence of touch£®

The artist graciously joined in our feature(opposite page)and allowed us to present her work in a less traditional light,but with a flair we believe captures the sensual spirit of her work.And over a few lazy afternoon lattes,Niu An opened the window a bit as to what the body is all about for 
her.

Q£ºTalk to me about bodies.
AN£ºThe body is a tool - it's like a filter.

Q: Purifying the world around us?
AN£ºYes£¬I think so£®And the body never lies to you£®If you feel pain,it's pain;if you want something,you want it.If you feel nervous - say£¬you like this person£¬when you have an attraction to them - you feel your heart beat faster.The body is telling you you like this person even though you may try to cover it.Now when I feel I like something there's a real quickening of my pulse.The feeling is good£®

Q£ºHow about the image of the body? Your paintings are very image driven with, as you say, the body as tool.
AN£ºI didn't really think about trying to draw the body£®At the very beginning I just wanted to draw myself-the self. We have a body, but it's not just a body. It has lots of things-the blood, the organs, even the spirit. That's why there are so many lines. The language of painting-the lines, the points-you don't want to use words. Words are very clear to tell you what something is, but in painting you just show. I want to show you. I want to show you£®And the lines are not just drawn by accident, they always have a reason£®They follow your body; they follow you soul£®They come out and you're finished. And there's the body£®

Q£ºSo, the feeling is filtered through your body and the result ends up on canvas£®
AN£ºYes. The feeling is under your body somewhere. If you don't feel anything it means you're dead. When I feel very warm and have a warm body-I'm alive. When you touch your lover-when you love somebody and in bed they're lying beside you holding you-the feeling of warmth is intensely 
wonderful. It's the meaning of life.

Q£ºAnd the message-the message is love?
AN£ºYes. It's all from the body. Everything£®