Nie Ou was born in Xinmin, Liaoning province, in 1948. In 1978, she enrolled in a graduate program in the traditional Chinese painting department of Central Academy of Fine Arts and studied under masters including Jiang Zhaohe, Ye Qianyu, Li Keran, and Liu Lingcang. At present she is a national first-level art instructor and painter at Beijing Fine Art Academy.

The origins of Nie Ou's work can be traced to her life in the countryside. She admits a close connection between her unique visual creativity and her memories of her upbringing. The bucolic scenes, lifestyle, and labour of her rural childhood are evident in her paintings of forests, herds of cattle, and children, all of which convey a gay, carefree am...