A site-specific dance piece, The People of the Garden, created by Shen Wei in 2017 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in New York. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Shen also re-imagines a still from Passion Spirit for his piece on the museum's Anne H. Fitzpatrick Façade, showing the continuity between the time-based and still media in his work.

"Amid the coronavirus pandemic, people need to be healed and comforted. We can feel the power within Shen Wei's artworks, offering us a spiritual journey," commented museum director Peggy Fogelman. "We hope these works of art, film and movement ignite your sense and reconnect your soul."

Born in Hunan in 1968, Shen followed the footsteps of his parents and began training as a local opera performer at the age of 9, which enabled him to learn singing, dancing, acting and martial arts. He also learned traditional Chinese painting at the age of 7.

"That experience really helped me understand the Chinese tradition. Chinese opera is for me the best form of performance art ever born in China-combining music, vocals, acting and acrobatics all in one and evolving for hundreds of years," he said in an early interview.

"Traditional Chinese culture deeply connected to my painting works in this exhibition," he adds.

In 1989, he began modern dance training at the American Dance Festival's program at the Guangdong Dance Academy in China. In 1991, he became a founding member of the Guangdong Modern Dance Company, the first of its kind in China.