Dr. Aihua Z. Pearce
2290 Adrian St.
Thousand Oaks
CA 91320
Phone: 805-403-2069
Email: azhou@callutheran.edu
Website: http://www.aihuapearce.com
Education
· Ph.D. in Art History and Visual Culture, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
Dissertation: Chinese Face and Western Body
· MPhil in Art History and Visual Culture, University of Exeter, United Kingdom
· M.F.A. in Figurative Sculpture, Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA, United States
· B.A. in Art, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA, United States
· Design Class, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Teaching Experience
2016 – present, Senior Adjunct Faculty, Department of Visual Arts, California Lutheran University
Conferences
2022 Lecturer: Chinese Artists and their Works at SCIART, presented at Channel Islands Art Center, California. Date: 25 June, 2022
2021 Attendee: The Forum of Across The Divide - Virtual Artist Talk (四), The Association of Chinese Artists in American Academia美国大学中国艺术家学会. Date: 20 November, 2021
2021 Attendee: The Forum of Across the Divide International Art and Design Education Virtual Conference 2021: With Deep Roots, Foliage Thrives, 9/30/2021, The Association of Chinese Artists in American Academia美国大学中国艺术家学会. Date: 30 September, 2021
2021 Attendee: The Forum of Across The Divide Virtual Artist Talk (二), The Association of Chinese Artists in American Academia 美国大学中国艺术家学会. Date: 30 June, 2021
2019 Lecturer: Idealism, Realism and Imagination in the Art of Xu Beihong, presented at The
Representational Art Conference 2019, Ventura, California
2018 Lecturer: Chinese Face and Western Body: Xu Beihong’s artistic inspiration by Michelangelo, presented at The Representational Art Conference 2018, Leeuwarden, Netherlands
2017 Lecturer: Chinese Face and Western Body, presented at The Representational Art Conference 2017, Miami, Florida
2017 Lecturer: The Representation of Male Gesture, presented at The Arts in Society Conference 2017, at Pantheon Sorbonne University, Paris, France
2016 Lecturer: Beauty Across Cultures, presented at The Arts in Society Conference 2016, at University of California, Los Angeles, California
2015 Lecturer: The Ideal Man in Chinese art and Western Art, presented at The Representational Art Conference 2015, Ventura, California
2014 Lecturer: The Aesthetics of the Idealized Male Figure in 21st Century Representational
Art, presented at The Representational Art Conference 2014, Ventura, California.
Articles
2022 Mian Situ’s Unconventional Historical Paintings, Mutual Art Magazine (April 6, 2022)
2022 Xu Weixin’s New Vision of Chinese Realistic Painting, Mutual Art Magazine (February 16, 2022)
2021 Xu Beihong: China’s First Trans-National Artist, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, August 2021, pp. 111-115.
2021 Slave and Lion: A Painting That Changed the Course of Chinese Art History, Mutual Art Magazine (May 21, 2021)
2017 Beauty Across Cultures: Male Beauty in Chinese and Western Representational Art, As It Is - The Proceedings of The Representational Art Conference (2015), CLU 2017, pp. 60-69.
2014 The Aesthetics of the Idealized Male Figure in 21st Century Representational Art, Kitsch and Beauty – The Proceedings of The Representational Art Conference (2014), CLU 2014, pp. 103-116.
Academic Service
2019, 2018, 2017, 2015, 2014, 2012, Member, Advisory Committee of The Representational Art Conference, California Lutheran University
Curation
2023 Curator of art exhibition titled: Across the Divide: Just in Time, at the Gallery of Channel
Islands Studio Art Center, Camarillo, CA
2022 Curator of a cross-cultural international art symposium titled: Echoes of Nature: Works
by Contemporary Chinese Artists, at the Channel Islands Studio Art Center Gallery
California, including art residencies, an international art exhibition, lectures from visiting art historians, and performances on traditional Chinese instruments by internationally recognized musicians
2015 Curator of a cross-cultural international art exhibition titled: Chinese Figurative Realism
in the 21st Century, William Rolland Gallery of Fine Art, California Lutheran University
2015 Curator of international art residency titled: Chinese Figurative Realism in the
21st Century, Kwan Fong Gallery, California Lutheran University
Exhibitions
2023 Across the Divide: Just in Time, The Gallery of Channel Islands Studio Art Center, Camarillo, CA
2022 With Roots Deep, Foliage Thrives, Foster – Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, Florida A&M University, FL
2022 Echoes of Nature: Works by Contemporary Chinese Artists, The Gallery of Channel Islands Studio Art Center, Camarillo, CA
2022 A Kind of Heaven, Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA
2020 Women by Women: Depictions and Interpretations by Greater Los Angeles Women.
SoLA Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA
2019 TRAC2019 Invitation Exhibit at The Representational Art Conference 2019, Camarillo, CA
2016 The Silk Road, The Pictorial Language, Chinese Art Museum of America, Los Angeles, CA
2016 California Art Club’s 105th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Transmission, William Rolland Gallery, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA
2015 Facets: A Journey through Representational Art, Gallery V, Camarillo, CA
2015 TRAC2015 Invitational Exhibit at The Representational Art Conference 2015, Ventura, CA
2015 Chinese Figurative Realism in the 21st Century, William Rolland Gallery, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA
2014 Coming Home, William Rolland Gallery, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, CA
2014 TRAC2014 Invitational Exhibit at The Representational Art Conference 2014, Camarillo, CA
2014 Women by Women, Kwan Fong Gallery, Thousand Oaks, CA
2014 Southland Draw, Kwan Fong Gallery, Thousand Oaks, CA
2013 American Women Artists, Juried Competition, Online
2013 The Man Show, Kwan Fong Gallery, Thousand Oaks, CA
2013 Artist in Community, Atrium Gallery, Camarillo, CA
2012 21ST National Art Exhibition, CoCOA Gallery, Fort Collins, CO
2012 Featured Artist Exhibition, Gallery 1317, Camarillo, CA
Reviews
2023 Across the Divide, Art China Magazine, December 8, 2023
2022 Old Traditions New Approaches- Echoes of Nature: Works by Contemporary Chinese Artists, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, June 10, 2022. P113.
2022 Works by Contemporary Chinese Artists, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, June 10, 2022
2022 Michael Pearce, Face of Convention, American Art Collector, June 2022. PP. 36-41.
2022 Alex Wilson, Art Smart, Ventura County Reporter, May 25th, 2022
2022 Michael Pearce, A Kind of Heaven, Oceanside Museum of Art, May 2022
2022 Michael Pearce, A Kind of Heaven, American Art Collector, May 2022. P. 43.
2019 Peter Trippi, Advancing the Cause of Figurative Art FACE TO FACE, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, October 15th 2019
2017 Review: Figurative Art Convention and Expo (FACE) & Representational Art Conference (TRAC), Juxtapoz Magazine, December 14th 2017
2016 105th Annual Gold Medal Juried Exhibition, California Art Club, April, 2016
2015 Sherry Ross, The Power of the Representation Art Conference of 2015, Art Renewal Center, 2015
2015 Vicki Stavig, One on One, Art of the West magazine, March/April 2015. P. 14.
2015 CLU art exhibit features Chinese-born artists, Acorn website, January 8th 2015
2015 Aihua Zhou, American Gallery – 21st Century website, October 6th 2015
2015 Lance Orozco, New South Coast Art Exhibition Looks At Visions of American West Through Chinese Artists Eyes, KCLU Radio interview, February 5th 2015
2015 Alicia Doyle, CLU Art Exhibit Ties in with Chinese New Year, Ventura County Star newspaper, Jan 31st 2015
2014 7 Chinese artists featured in exhibit, The Fillmore Gazette website, December 23rd 2014
2014 Tour of art exhibit offered in Italian, The Fillmore Gazette website, October 27th2014
2014 Exhibit features alumni art, Acorn website, October 16th2014
2014 Graduates span 5 decades and work in various media, The Fillmore Gazette website, September 29th 2014
2014 On Exhibit, Ventura County Reporter, February 20th 2014
2014 Jeffrey Carlson, Women by Women Display in California, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, February 13th 2014
2013 Drawings pay tribute to spirit of So Cal, Acorn, October 3rd 2013
2013 Drawings capturing SoCal in CLU exhibit, The Fillmore Gazette website, September 23rd 2013
2013 Stephanie Sumell, CLU art show highlights modern man’s many forms, Acorn website, April 5th 2013
2013 Steve Doherty The Man Show in California, Outdoor Painter Magazine website, March, 2013
2013 Stephanie Sumell, Aihua Zhou’s ‘Twin Image’ and artwork ‘Handsome Young Man with a Beard’, Acorn newspaper, March 14th 2013
2013 Stephanie Sumell, Artists ‘man up’ for exhibit, Acorn Website, March 14th 2013
2011 Simi resident showcased in CLU ART exhibit, Acorn website, April 15th 2011
Memberships
Artist member of the California Art Club
Chinese Artists in American Academia
About Me
A classical figurative draftswoman and art historian, Dr. Aihua was born in Beijing, China. She began her art training at an early age, and then pursued a professional education at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. After this she immigrated to the United States, and studied art at Cal Lutheran University and classical figurative sculpture at Academy of Art University, San Francisco. She holds a Ph.D. in art history and visual culture from University of Exeter, United Kingdom.
Her figurative work is heavily influenced by the rich tradition of classical theory and principle with its focus on realism; but rather than simply mimic this style, she has worked to blend classical and contemporary elements to create a voice of her own. Her pastel works quietly capture the essence of the inner virtues of kindness, diligence, reverence, generosity and truthfulness, presenting the qualities of elegance, gracefulness and exquisiteness - the better parts of the human condition revealed in the idealized figure.
Dr. Aihua is an Artist Member of the California Art Club. She teaches drawing at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. She and her husband Dr. Michael Pearce live in Thousand Oaks, California.