Painting the Space Between Memory and Perception
A Contemporary Practice Shaped by Colour, Emotion and Cultural Transition
For London-based mixed media visual artist Chen Chen, art is a means of tracing the subtle spaces between memory, perception and emotional experience. Working across oil painting, digital media, collage and mixed media, Chen has developed a practice that moves between the personal and the collective, drawing on everyday observations, cultural transition and the shifting nature of identity.
Chen’s work is rooted in contemporary figurative painting, but it resists straightforward realism. Rather than seeking to replicate the visible world, the artist is interested in how forms are altered by feeling, recollection and imagination. Landscapes, objects and human figures become sites of transformation, where colour, gesture and simplified structure are used to suggest psychological presence rather than fixed representation.
This sensitivity to the emotional life of an image runs throughout Chen’s practice. Minimal forms, delicate colour palettes and geometric visual language often come together to create spaces of pause and reflection. In some works, vivid digital compositions introduce rhythm and movement, while in others, oil painting allows for a more nuanced exploration of tone, texture and atmosphere. Across these different approaches, Chen is concerned with how artworks can hold moments of resonance, allowing private memory and shared experience to meet.
Chen’s artistic development has been shaped by independent study, continuous experimentation and practical engagement with contemporary art. Although much of the artist’s visual language has evolved through self-directed learning, observation and research, this process is supported by a wider academic and cultural background. Chen studied MA Public Administration, specialising in International Development, at the University of York, with a focus on cultural policy, arts and development. Prior to this, the artist completed a BA in E-Commerce at Guangzhou College of South China Technology University, where areas of study included image processing, graphic design, new media marketing and cultural and creative industries.
This combination of creative practice, visual communication and cultural awareness informs the way Chen thinks about art as both an intimate and social act. The artist describes a desire to contribute to the UK cultural landscape through work that reflects personal insight while also carrying broader social resonance. In this sense, painting becomes more than image-making. It becomes a reflective space where identity, memory and emotion can be considered, negotiated and made visible.
Chen’s creative process often begins with fragments: a photograph, sketch, personal observation or recollection. From there, the artist establishes a loose composition and colour structure before gradually building the work in layers. Intuition plays a central role. Rather than following a fixed plan, Chen responds to the surface as it evolves, allowing the balance between control and spontaneity to shape the final image.
This openness is also reflected in the way narrative appears within the work. Chen’s paintings are not driven by explicit storytelling, but by suggestive emotional and symbolic structures. Colour, gesture and the figure become carriers of feeling, evoking personal histories, reflective states and moments of ambiguity. The narratives remain open ended, inviting viewers to bring their own memories and associations to the image.
The human figure holds particular importance within this visual world. Influenced by artists such as Alice Neel, Marlene Dumas and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Chen is drawn to figurative painting’s ability to convey psychological depth and human presence. These influences can be felt not through imitation, but through a shared interest in the emotional charge of portraiture and the ways representation can move beyond likeness. Chen is also inspired by the expressive use of colour found in modernist painting and by contemporary artists who challenge conventional approaches to identity and depiction.
Living and working across different environments has further shaped Chen’s awareness of identity as something fluid, constructed and continually reformed. Cultural transition plays an important role within the practice, informing the artist’s interest in the relationship between personal memory and broader social experience. In Chen’s work, the act of painting becomes a way of making these invisible connections visible, allowing internal and external worlds to overlap.
Currently based in the United Kingdom, Chen’s studio practice is shaped by everyday encounters, environmental impressions and moments of reflection. The studio functions as a site of experimentation, where painting, drawing and visual research develop gradually. The artist often begins by looking at previous works, sketches or references, allowing earlier ideas to become starting points for new explorations. Music also forms part of the studio rhythm, creating a sense of focus and continuity.
Chen is currently developing a series of paintings exploring memory, perception and emotional presence through contemporary portraiture and landscape imagery. The project investigates how colour, gesture and abstraction can communicate experiences that exist between observation and recollection. These works continue the artist’s wider interest in creating spaces where viewers can pause, reflect and enter into a personal relationship with the image.
In recent years, Chen’s work has been included in a number of exhibitions and showcases. In 2025, the artist participated in the International Online Exhibition with Exhibizone in Canada, Digital Artwork Exhibition at Fox Yard Studio in Suffolk, In Light of All This: Soft Power Strong Voices with Cista Arts in London, Abstract Harmony at Espacio Gallery, VOGUED – 1ST EDITION at Boomer Gallery, the 29th Community Art Exhibition in Virtual Reality with Circular ArtSpace in Bristol, and the 76th special edition of Collage Art in Tbilisi, Georgia.
In 2026, Chen’s artwork Feel the Sunset was selected as a finalist in TERAVARNA’s 10th Color International Juried Art Competition in Los Angeles. The artist has also received media recognition, including an Artlyst feature titled Chen Chen: Finding the Space Between Memory and the Present Moment, and coverage in ChnArt exploring perception and rhythm in contemporary landscape painting.
As an emerging artist, Chen is steadily building a practice defined by sensitivity, experimentation and a commitment to emotional depth. Whether working digitally, through oil painting, or across mixed media forms, the artist approaches image-making as a way to explore how memory, feeling and identity are held within visual experience. The result is a body of work that feels reflective and quietly resonant, inviting viewers into spaces where the seen and remembered begin to merge.
Art Lovers can encounter Chen Chen’s work through selected exhibitions, art fairs and online showcases. Information about current and forthcoming exhibitions, available works and commissions can be accessed through the artist’s website and professional social media channels.
