FOR many artists, creating large-scale works proves their ability and shows their ambition.

But that’s not what’s behind the latest exhibition of Ye Yongqing.

“The Time Thief — Prophecies & Fragments, Ye Yongqing’s Works 2010-2014,” currently underway at Shanghai Longmen Art Projects, comprises 110 small paintings of 40cm by 50cm.

“Leisure time is like empty space within a room,” Ye says. “Painting becomes a means to kill time, to pass the time, from these small gaps within a lifetime.

“I just randomly did some small paintings when I felt a bit tired of dealing with some big, daunting work. But later I found that these paintings were quite interesting, as they seemed to be a record either of my mood at the moment or a reflection of social phenomena,” he says.

In Ye’s eyes, these small paintings are the result of the breaks in time that he “steals.”

“In recent years, it seems that we’ve been living in a persistent countdown, bombarded by apocalyptic prophecies, social media, social unrest and the explosion of digital information. These bits and fragments have become the basic backdrop to survival,” the artist says. “Among all the chaos, I spontaneously documented and compiled these fragments into over a hundred small paintings, each describing an individual story, and yet, relevant to each other.”

The small paintings range from scenes such as a portrait of his poet friends, a vague natural scene or a bird cage to abstract forms or some other daubing the artist may unravel in a description posted with the artwork.

Born in 1958 in Kunming, Yunnan Province, Ye is a graduate from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in 1982. He is now among the most prominent artists in China’s booming contemporary art scene.

Ye is one of a large number of artists who have set up studios in Yunnan. He lives in Beijing during one half of the year and in Dali in Yunnan in the other half. Dali is located between the rugged Cangshan Mountain and beautiful Erhai Lake.

Farmers still carry traditional woven baskets for shopping on their shoulders. But the city has begun to change, emerging as a backpackers’ paradise full of inns, hostels, coffeehouses and watering holes. Tourists are drawn to its scenic location and balmy climate, which is never freezing cold in the winter nor sweltering in the summer.

“Today Dali is an amazing city, especially for artists and poets, where the atmosphere is free and leisurely without outside disturbances,” he said. “I am a person who loves to travel. It’s true that traveling around the world has opened up a new window for me: How big is this world? How tall are the mountains? How long is this road? How open is the heart?

“In my home, among the mountains and waters of Dali, the rustic, cultural customs are still being passed on till today. I refer to it as my home, but not merely as a geographic reference, but also it is the home of my own spirit.”

Lyricist Yao Qian once said that Ye “is like a parallel walker, walking his own path at his own pace and keeping his distance. Unchanged is his romantic elegance. One could always sense that his artistic language is like a soft-spoken person, speaking effortlessly using a very casual vocabulary, but in just the right temperament to clearly trace the outlines.”

Date: Through April 30 (closed on Mondays), 10am-6:30pm

Address: Suite 102, Tian An Center, 338 Nanjing Rd W.