Cai Jinwei (b.1980, Guangzhou, China) is currently one of the most dynamic young contemporary Chinese ink artist in China practising the “gongbi” technique. Born in 1980 in Guangdong, China, she already holds a doctorate in Fine Arts from the prestigious Chinese National Academy of Arts in Beijing, a testament to her mastery of her skills and artistic talent.

Known for her elegant and poetic still-life compositions depicting butterflies and flowers, Jinwei constantly pushes the boundaries in the way she composes the painting, instilling into each work a sense of time and place. Her butterflies are akin to the interaction between people, displaying a sense of play and other emotions.

With a strong foundation in the traditional Chinese ink painting, Jinwei has developed a unique personal style. The integration the meticulous intricate brushstrokes with layers of ink washes; the interplay between the opaque and the translucent; the dry and the wet ink methods; are all part of Jinwei’s constant innovation of the ink painting technique developed over the years.

Jinwei’s works had been selected to be part of Sotheby’s exhibition of contemporary artist in 2013, titled “New Ink – An Exhibition of Ink Art by Post 1970 Artists from The Yiqingzhai Collection”.