Zimou Tan – God Is Too Big For My Canvas

12/04/2024

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Zimou Tan. An artist with the passion for God whose face he does not depict. Converted to Christianity when he was 40 and believed to have Buddhist influence and the desire for a philosophical exploration of life. His art journey changed since his conversion to Christianity.

Zimou Tan was born in China, immigrated with his parents to the USA and now lives in California. He began drawing portraits when he was 12. For some time Zimou was an apprentice to a 93-year-old master artist in China. However, the formal art training he received in the USA.

Zimou graduated from the Academy of Art College in San Francisco with degrees in both Fine Arts and Traditional Illustration.

He served there as a professor of Fine Arts upon his graduation until the beginning of 2014, when he left to focus on his portraiture commissions.

Zimou Tan is called the master of contemporary portraiture. When answering the question about the difference between the photo portrait and a painted portrait Zimou says that they are different but yet have the same purpose.

Photography is meant to capture a moment, and painting is meant to create a moment.

Photography is meant to capture a moment, and painting is meant to create a moment.

Although Zimou is a master of portraiture, he never painted a portrait of Jesus. In his paintings he would put the figure of Jesus under shade, under the shadow or he would make the figure really small so that the face is not clear enough.

Portrait is my specialty, but I do not have that courage. I don’t think that I have that right to narrow down how Jesus looked like…God is too big for my canvas!