Wang Huaiqing's art is reserved and peaceful, and his personality is marked by tenacity and initiative. As a youth, he displayed remarkable realist depictive abilities, but then he began a transition towards abstract and conceptual painting. As realism occupied the mainstream of mainland Chinese art in the 1980s, few painters were moving towards abstract art. Wang Huaiqing constantly experimented in painting itself, and tried out different mediums, creating works in the various fields of oil painting, ink wash, collage, metal work, printmaking, sculpture and installation, simultaneously pushing forward the two extremes of Chinese culture and modernist artistic forms.

Wang was born in Beijing and graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, also located in the capital, but his art has often been closer to that of the south, imbued with the refined style of literati painting along the lines of Lin Fengmian, Wu Dayu and Wu Guanzhong. As a member of the first class of graduate students to enter the Central Academy of Fine Arts after the Cultural Revolution, Wang experienced the process of social development, his art straddling the divide between the past and what was to follow. He carried his predecessors' ideals of reforming Chinese painting, but also understood contemporary Chinese art. His generation was the link in a chain of major transformation. Whether in life or in the world of painting, Wang thoroughly savored classical crafting of the home designs of the south, Ming furniture, calligraphy and literary tools, and through them expressed the perceptions of contemporary man. He was both a creator of contemporary art and an admirer of antiquities.

Wang often frequents Lujia Ying and Panjia Yuan, Beijing's antiques markets, seeking relics of China's historical splendor. When he finds an exquisite vase or window carving, he can't put it down, and he always returns from these trips with one or two items. Some of these objects will later become creative elements in his paintings, preserving lost history in a more beautiful form. When we look back over the most representative paintings in his career, such as "Hometown" (1986-1989), a depiction of an old home in Shaoxing, "Great Ming Manner" (1990), his first depiction of Ming furniture, "Gold Stone" (1998), a Chinese character-based work, "Han Xiazi's Night Revels" series (1996, 1998, 2002, 2006), a new take on an ancient theme, or "Flying Apsaras" (2006), based on the Dunhuang grottoes, we can see that Wang's subjects are often carriers of historic culture. He turns concrete signs into symbols of meaning, releasing his refined observations and ideas. The "vase" has been Wang's most beloved symbol and shape, and it began appearing in his works in 1991. In Chinese, "vase" rhymes with "peace", so the placement of a painted vase alludes to peace, making it one of China's most cherished auspicious symbols since ancient times.

Even in recent times, the vase has continued to hold an important position in Wang Huaiqing's painting. For instance, at his five-month retrospective exhibition held at the Seattle Asian Art Museum beginning in November 2010, Wang donated a highly regarded vase-themed work, "Ping An – Peace No. 7", to the museum's collection. From 2009-2010, Wang created "Imperial Porcelains" in oil and mixed media. Eleven different vases were attached to the work. Standing out from his previously monochrome painting, the colorful vases have a dazzling, enticing effect.

When one first sees the oil painting "Imperial Porcelains", it looks like an intricately depicted "curio cabinet" or "display chest", with all manner of different, colorful vases laid out like mother of pearl in an exquisite piece of furniture. When you move closer, you discover that these so called vases are actually pieces of paper from various print publications. There are scathing cultural commentaries, colorful advertisements and alluring beautiful women. What appear to be elegant porcelain vases are actually profound symbols of contemporary culture. The style of the artwork is both antique and new wave.

The background and lines in "Imperial Porcelains" are still black and white, with a simple and pure layout, intentionally highlighting the main subject. The form off the curio cabinet or display chest is a continuation and deconstruction of Wang's Ming furniture series with a Chinese abstract context. The display-like layout of the vases is like that of a stage, creating narrative undertones.

Beijing is a collection and distribution center for Chinese cultural antiquities, as well as the arena for Chinese contemporary art, with new galleries, auction houses, expos, biennials and artistic events emerging all the time. The city is also home to the nation's highest concentration of cultural media, where modern people come face to face with printed material and information on a day to day basis. So called information and media are often marked by "official monopoly", "standard design" and "standard examination", things that seem to resonate with the overtones of "Official Porcelain". Aside from presenting a beautiful cultural call, "Imperial Porcelains" also reflects regional culture, fragments of history and memory, as well as the traits of contemporary media. It is truly a great contemporary artwork rich with meaning.