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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)

marcuschen003@hotmail.com

+44 0 7479 389 110

Ins: @cechenpaints

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