For two years, the young Chao shepherded sheep and taught the children of herdsmen before he enrolled at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. After graduation, he returned to his hometown. He says that wandering each day with the sheep in the constant sunshine was the most pleasant and soothing experience of his life.
Chao Ge said, "This was the most precious part of my life. Of all the memories I have about growing up, the most important one is returning to the Mongolian grassland. I used the simplest way of painting to create a poetic artistic world."
Later in his career, he constantly explored his emotional connection with the Mongolian landscape in paintings of the vast steppe and its grand mountains. In these works, viewers can see a faithful emotion to a perpetual, lofty beauty which is almost akin to religious feeling.
Chao Ge said, "Inner Mongolia boasts high skies and a vast expanse of earth as well as its unique history. It's like a ray of sunshine for me. I have gained strong emotional influences from my Mongolian life and my differing lifestyles. All of this has helped my art to progress."
One of the most important figures of the 1990s on the Chinese arts scene, Chao made a quiet but essential artistic change in 2000.
The strong, tense moods defining his earlier works were greatly subdued, while a serene, solemn and reserved atmosphere crept onto his canvases.
Chao Ge said, "After I finished my paintings, many friends told me that they had similar feelings. This shows that such feelings are not individual, but instead belong to a group of people and an entire society. This is why art is so valuable."
Over the years, Chao Ge travelled extensively around the world to absorb artistic inspirations. He held a solo exhibition at the Vittoriano Complex in Rome in June 2006, which created quite a stir among the Italian art community.
Translator: "She said that your style is very similar to that of Italy. Did you learn it in Italy?”
Chao Ge said, "I told her that I learnt it in China, but I travelled a lot around the world. So I have a relatively deep knowledge about world art."
