When Chinese artist Huang Yan was nominated for the Art Gallery of Ontario’s first annual Grange Prize, he was offered an art residency anywhere in Canada. He chose to come to The Banff Centre.

Huang is one of China’s most prominent contemporary artists. A photographer and performance artist, his best-known works use the human body as a canvas, blending imagery from traditional Chinese ink painting with contemporary landscapes. The results are provocative — a painted woman running naked on the Great Wall, a schoolgirl whose features have been overlaid with a stylized painting of a bird.

During his ten-day residency in Banff, Huang met artists throughout the Centre, took in the landscape of the rocky mountains, and created several new works. I met with Huang in the Thom Studio in the Leighton Artists’ Colony, where his creativity leapt from the walls in the form of rubbings he created from Banff Centre signs — pieces of history frozen in time, which Huang took back to China as a memory of his visit here.

What brought you to The Banff Centre?

I was invited by the Art Gallery of Ontario to come to Canada. They asked if there was somewhere special I would like to go to create my work. I decided Banff would be a good place to visit — I wanted to take in the winter arts festival and some of Canada’s Aboriginal culture. While in Banff I met some interesting Aboriginal artists, including Alex Janvier. Aboriginal people seem to really understand my work and the connection between the body and the landscape.

What did you work on during your visit?

I worked on rubbings featuring signage from The Banff Centre. The rubbings tell the history of a place, rather than telling the history by using pictures. (Huang points at rubbings around his studio featuring the phrases “Parking Level 1”, “No Propane Vehicles Allowed”, “Caution Two Way Traffic”, “Communications”, “Theatre”.)

You also created an interesting piece at the top of Sulphur Mountain. Can you describe the piece and the process?

I went up the gondola with my wife Zhang Tiemei. A white base paint was applied to my face, like a whitewash. Once we were up the gondola at the top of the mountain, Zhang painted the mountains and trees she saw in the landscape on my face. It took about an hour and a half to complete the painting. Although I have had landscapes painted on my face before, this is the first time I’ve had the background I was in front of painted on my face.

What inspired you during your visit here?

The people are quite down to earth and I was very impressed with the natural scenery, including the elk. I’ve travelled to Australia, Italy, Norway, and many other countries around the world. The Banff Centre is one of the best places I’ve ever been. I would definitely love to come back again.

The Grange Prize is an annual award established in partnership with Aeroplan and the Art Gallery of Ontario, recognizing the work of Canadian and international contemporary photographers. This year’s prize was won by Sarah Anne Johnson, also an alumna of The Banff Centre. For more information on Huang and the impact of his residency at the Centre, go to www.thegrangeprize.com