An aspiring artist bound in body but not in spirit

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An aspiring artist bound in body but not in spirit

By Wang Yanlin (Shanghai Daily) 10:08, August 13, 2013

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Jin Wan, 21, dreams of having her own art studio. That may sound like nothing special for a university student majoring in animation design, but for Jin it’s part of a long struggle. She lost the ability to walk when she was five years old and is now confined to a wheelchair.

“My dream is very practical, isn’t it?” Jin asks, while sitting at home in a living room that also serves as a makeshift painting studio.

For Jin and her family, September 2, 1996 is a day etched in memory. Jin awoke that morning and was unable to sit up or control her legs. She was taken to hospital where doctors diagnosed transverse mytlitis and radiculitis, neurological disorders that would leave her paralyzed for life.

“It felt like a bolt from the blue,” Jin recalls.

Good-bye to her childhood dream of becoming a dancer.

Her childhood became an endless stream of medical treatment. She had to take medicines that caused hair loss and undergo arduous rehabilitation sessions.

Her mother quit a sales job to take care of the daughter. The family had to rely on her father’s income of about 1,500 (US$242) a month from a security guard job.

Life was hard, but Jin proved to be a tough little girl. She dried her tears and took on life with a determination to conquer adversity.

Many years later, when she participated in a TV program, the director asked her to be a bit more sentimental on air to create an atmosphere of sadness. Jin replied with a smile that she would never cry again.

With the dream of becoming a dancer gone, she found a new passion in art.

At the age of eight, she started to draw, testing her talents across a broad range, from Chinese calligraphy to Chinese paintings, from oils to watercolors, from painting to sketching.

She was a natural talent and a quick learner. In 2011, Jin had her first art exhibition as a painter and calligrapher. It was a great success.

“I paint with my heart to show my feelings toward the nature I respect, toward the people I love and toward the life I treasure,” Jin says.

She is now confidently pursing her dream through study at East China Normal University.

Jin pushes herself to excel. As a primary school student, she set her sights on top grades in homework. If she failed, she always re-did the homework until she got it right. When she decided to pursue painting and calligraphy, she practiced artwork for endless hours.

Her confidence comes from the support of friends who encourage rather than pity her.