Julia Chen

Julia Chen was born in Taipei, Taiwan. She immigrated to the United States at the age of thirteen. Both eastern and western cultures as well as the peripheral existence as an islander and immigrant influence her works. She studied for seven years with Dr. Leon Long-Yien Chang, an old scholar and master in Chinese calligraphy. Using Chinese ink taught her how to appreciate the subtlety and nuance of a line and its expressive quality as well as the discipline of observing and learning by copying the old masters. In 2006, she began to explore the medium of oil painting motivated by the sense of elusiveness of life and the desire to record her everyday emotions, people and the events around her. She earned her Master of Fine Art in painting from New York Academy of Art in 2010. She is currently living in Stamford, Connecticut.

ARTIST STATEMENT: In 2006, a close family member of mine was diagnosed with cancer. In the ensuing months I experienced a multitude of raw emotions. Paintings provided me with an outlet to release and express these strong feelings about life and death. I named this series “50-50” to represent the state of uncertainty, of not knowing whether things would get better or worse, and the intense anxiety this had created within me.

The different materials and textures found in these paintings each helped me to communicate these feelings. In one of the paintings, I tried to build this tension through the physicality of the thick globs of paint on the ominous weighty cloud juxtaposed next to the fragility of the pencil lines of the young trees. I chose to use rice paper for its susceptibility to the delicate graphite drawing and its fragile yet tough quality to symbolize my state of being. In addition, the use of multiple perspective systems conveyed the myriad of feelings and thoughts that I was having during this particular period of time.

These paintings are a reminder of the turbulent time of my life.

This Wish Has to Come True 72"x84"

I Need Bouancy! 36"x47" (sold)

More Julia Chen works coming soon!

(Click images above to view larger versions)

Please contact the gallery if you want to learn of possible additional works.