Hi there! My name is Ce Chen, I am a self-promoted artist and illustrator. My practice involves a wide range of medias, which kind of blurs the boundary between illustration and fine art. I developed an interest in Cornish landscape during my BA many years ago; I have been intrigued by how a particular landscape can be used to define an identity, as well as the symbolic power of landscapes. After one master's degree in painting, I moved to Cornwall for another one in illustration, and also to consolidate the theoretical & methodology of a research topic I proposed. I am now doing a PhD at Chelsea College of Arts about Cornish landscape and identity through the ethnographic perspective of an outsider. I consider my making of illustration/artwork a summary of concepts, which encourages the outcome to be used in symbolic interaction.
To paint as a shit-stirrer – at least that was the encouragement. Authorial illustration introduced many feasibilities to narrative visualisation. Those conventionally tooled elements: words, themes, compositions, a different manner of utilisation could decisively alter the outcome. As Gary Powell once said, “back to basic”, I sank to fundamental elements to depict or invent questions. I mess around with linearity, definition, materiality, and time-space as I maintain that art systematically challenges things in a specific context – even if this context is too idealised or needs to be fabricated. This is, perhaps the approach I adopt to settle the never-ending self-debate about my identity as an artist, an illustrator or a researcher.
Education
2014 - 2017, University of Brighton, BA (Hons) Illustration
2019 - 2020, Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London, MA Fine Art Painting
2020 - 2021, Falmouth University, MA Illustration: Authorial Practice
2021 - on going, Chelsea, UAL, Research Programme PhD
2022, Art on the Celtic Fringes 1880 - 1945, short course, University of Oxford
2022, Cambridge University Summer Programme
Professional Experience
2022.5 - 6, Off Grid, Newlyn Art Gallery, Penzance
2022.3, Meta?, joint exhibition at HOAA, Milano; xBAL Pop Up Gallery, Melbourne
2022.2, Pathway, solo exhibition at Fish Factory, Penryn
2021.11, PerSpectra, joint exhibition at Copeland Gallery, London
2021.10, Subject Matters, joint exhibition at Lewisham Art House, London
2021.8, Ebb & Flow, graduate show, Falmouth
2021.6, Repair, joint exhibition at Cornish Bank, Falmouth
2020.10, UAL Graduate Showcase, Online
2020.9, New Faces, joint exhibition at Sprout Art, London
2019.2, Work highly recommended, Red Line Art Works
2018.11, Work collected by Shanghai Xirui Co., Ltd.
2018.3, Solo exhibition, Zuheros, Spain
2017.10 - 2017.11, Contributed to Oh Comely Magazine
2017.7, Work featured in Average Art Magazine
2017.7, Two Folds, Bargehouse, London
2017.7, work shortlisted in Royal Ulster Academy 136th Annual Exhibition
Contact
c.chen0320192@arts.ac.uk (for academic/research enquiries)
+44 0 7479 389 110
Ins: @cechenpaints