In the urban fabric of Ontario, the work of a Chinese Canadian artist quietly takes root—growing like mycelium beneath the surface, yet striking like a melting iceberg. Yan Xiaojing/闫晓静, born in China and now based in Canada, completed three major public art commissions in 2025, emerging as one of the most compelling voices in Ontario’s public art landscape.
Her work is not ornamental. It is a sustained gaze—into climate crisis, civic memory, urban ecology, and the identities often overlooked by dominant narratives. As a female artist, her gaze carries a gentle strength; as an overseas Chinese, it pierces with cultural depth.
At Burlington’s Skyway Community Centre, Ephemeral Reverie—a sculpture made of colorful recycled concrete—evokes a melting iceberg. It is both elegy and tactile reflection, a meditation on fragility, resilience, and human responsibility. Through material and form, Yan transforms public space into a site of emotional and ecological resonance.
In Brampton, she collaborated with artist Lili Otasevic on Contours of Connection, a multi-layered steel sculpture commemorating Ontario’s 18th Premier, Bill Davis. Words like “education” and “inspiration” are embedded within the structure, inviting viewers into a dynamic dialogue with civic legacy. More than a monument, the work activates memory, turning commemoration into participatory experience and reinforcing public art as a democratic gesture.
In Markham’s Miliken Mills Park, Underground Sunshine spans 2,500 square feet, using native perennials—asters, cup plants, and coreopsis—to create a slow-growing, seasonally shifting landscape. Inspired by the branching logic of mycelium, the project blurs the boundaries between sculpture and stewardship. Yan worked closely with curator Yan Wu, local nursery Ecoman, and public art advisor Catherine Dean to respect existing mowing patterns and soil conditions, crafting a living artwork that evolves with time.
Yan’s artistic language is rooted in global experience and shaped by international exhibitions. She fuses Eastern symbolism with Western conceptualism, using materials rich in ecological and cultural meaning to build a cross-cultural visual narrative. From Suzhou Museum and Hermès Shanghai to the Royal Ontario Museum and the Chinese American Arts Council in New York, her work consistently explores “connection”—between people and nature, cities and memory.
Her success is not merely aesthetic recognition; it reflects institutional openness to diasporic voices. Within Canada’s multicultural framework, her work expresses immigrant identity and anchors community belonging. She demonstrates that when female artists are given space to speak, and when cities listen beyond surface aesthetics, public space can shift—from visibility to vitality, from decoration to engagement.