Yang Jiechang was born in 1956 in Guangdong, China. He studied painting under his grandfather from an early age and graduated from the Chinese Painting Department of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) in 1982. From 1982 to 1989, he taught at GAFA. Since 1989, he has lived and worked in Heidelberg, Germany, and Paris, France. His artistic practice spans multiple mediums, including ink painting, installation, performance, and video art.

In the early 1980s, while creating art, Yang Jiechang also studied Chinese art history and theory. His artistic philosophy was influenced by Zen Buddhism and Daoism, integrating conceptual techniques into contemporary art. He abandoned conventional imagery in favour of ink’s intrinsic expressive qualities, resulting in abstract ink paintings. Yang believed that for ink painting and calligraphy to be revitalized in response to the contemporary world, they must preserve their essential core. He defined this essence as something derived from the continuous flow of everyday actions, viewing calligraphy as a true everyday art form. In 1989, he was invited to participate in Magiciens de la Terre (Magicians of the Earth), an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, where he debuted Thousand Layers of Ink. In this work, he applied layers of ink repeatedly onto paper, stripping the artistic process down to its most fundamental elements: paper, water, ink, and the act of painting itself. The ink naturally forms wrinkles over time as moisture evaporates and dissipates. This return to simplicity and deconstruction reflected the artist’s understanding and expression of the dynamic interplay between old and new, tradition and innovation, as well as the dialogue between classical and contemporary art. It has garnered significant attention and sparked discussions in the international art community.