Shao Yan has rich exploration in his art practice. He is trying to promote his works from moderncalligraphy to abstractive art. He involved his status and understanding of life in to every time of his creativity. And he developed his unique writing style to be behavior art. Finally he mixed the trace of ink behavior and water to be art works.

- Zhu Tsingsheng

Shao Yan actually is walking on a way from same sourcing and same ending of writing and painting. It is involving calligraphy into painting. He uses the natural power of water to spill off the varied line to become a picture. I think it is his contribution to make water, a kind of substance to play more important role in art work.

- JiaFangzhou

He is a contemporary artist successfully foregoing from traditional calligraphy, from his own special background and his current feeling, from China art. Shao Yan paint emphasis on life experience, emphasizing the outbreak of an instant emotional expression. He works without sense of design, it is very meaningful.

- Lu Hong

I think Shao Yan can become research specimens of Chinese contemporary art in the moment.He is a very natural outcome of the development of30 years development of modern and contemporary art. His art contains many elements of Chinese culture that has been conversedvery good, very witty.

- Pi Daojian

He entered into traditional calligraphy and exceeded it. He entered into modern calligraphy and escaped from it again. He entered into writing image on paper, installation of writing image, behavior art of writing image, and then he exceeded them all. In the style of art, as well as in the idea of art, he has no obsession yet there is no obstacle for him.

- Liu Xiaochun

Shao Yan's art has gone through three stages. I’d like to use the word "marvelous" to summarize his "few characteristics’ calligraphy”for his first stage, the word" mysterious "to summarize his "multi-characteristics’ calligraphy” and the words “miraculous wonders " for his third stage.

- Chen Xiaoxin

I would like to name Shao Yan’s work to be “Metaphysics of ink and water”, no meter it is ‘shooting ink’ or abstractive ink. His art is very close with the philosophy of Lao Zi and ZhuangZi. So I want to summaries his ink art into 4 key points. The first is natural, for his ‘shooting ink’ is the natural express from his heart, it is overflow of the nature of artist. The second is metaphysics, the original color of Dao is dark, deepest darkness is black. Now he paints purely by ink, I think this color lead his works to be mysticism. The third is feminine. I think the basic style of his work is feminine instead of Masculine. He emphasizes the effect of water that is the source of his life of art. The fourth is empty and calm. Compare with Pollok’s activity painting such like Autumn Melody whose visual effects are real and active. Shao Yan’s works are blank and calm. He keeps mentality of empty and calm. So I feel that his ink art is a spiritual free roam. We even can say that he represent a contemporary express of metaphysics’ spirit.

- Wang Yong

I feel that Shao Yan involves locus of life even locus of soul in his series of Locus of Mind and Shooting Ink. We do not know how can he move that fast or that slow, where is the action style come from? He absolutely does it unconsciously and without any design. As an animal of culture, he made it through the influence and shape of his soul by many years writing and painting experience. We must find the relationship with writing and painting and the containing of culture in his sudden unconscious outcome. I think the status of free is a status of prescriptive within arbitrariness and lineage within creativities. This is the basement and possibilities of his art.

- Deng Pingxiang

His art is a kind of art that has been changed to the idea of life experience and caring about society from formalism of writing images. It is a change from brush-ink centralism to water and ink material. This reform brought a rebuilding after activation by canceling the abstractedness of centered writing to painting.

- Dao Zi

I think it is very correct that Mr. Liu Xiaochunsummarized Shao Yan’s art by a concept of ‘leisurely mood’ which is in a higher level of idea that most of the intelligences are fighting for. The most outstanding part in China culture is being protected and inherited. The reason that the tradition is great is that the intelligences always can deeply feel it. This kind of things could not been shouted out but should be experienced. In that point on, Shao Yan’s art is transferring such kind of information through his idea of woks.