Since his art medium is the human body, some question whether or not the body is the art or the painting on the body. "As the body moves, the painted subject takes another shape or meaning." Huang Yan's creations can also be considered performance art, even though he himself has never performed. In Chinese culture, nudity and the human body are still considered taboo. Landscapes symbolize the intellectual values of the erudite class. Painting them on body parts not only makes it avant-garde, but it is a new way of using traditional Chinese art and of representing the relationship between man and nature, a very Taoist concept.