Sichen Grace Chen (she/they) is an illustrator and painter based in
Vancouver. She is
captivated by the in-between moments in time and space, nature, colourful eeriness, and the impossible...
Symbolised by the pairing of her Chinese name, Sī Chén (思辰), and her English name, Grace, Chen explores the complex relationships between seemingly disparate ideas, objects, and identities, hoping to create space for new perspectives. Growing up in China for the first few years of her life and moving often between cities in British Columbia has led her to garner an appreciation for material objects and their sentimentality.
Pareidolia, a phenomenon in which the mind perceives meaningful patterns or images in random stimuli, is one of the ways Chen untangles truth and molds her unconscious memories into their most authentic presentations. Her emotions and thoughts manifest through dream-like abstraction and saturated palettes, contrasted with real-world memorabilia and paraphernalia. Through her play of scale and reverie of trinkets, Chen paints an amalgamation of her daily life and unwritten diary.
Awards
2023 Alan Peckolick Scholarship Award for Excellence in Illustration
2022 Society of Illustrators Los Angeles, Illustration West 60
2022 The Community Arts Council of Richmond
Exhibitions
2023 ART PARTY, Group Show, Seymour Art Gallery, North Vancouver, BC
2023 Illustration Triennial, Group Show, Woods-Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI
2023 Place des Arts 50th Anniversary, Group Show, Coquitlam, BC
2023 Summer, Group Show, Langley Civic Centre, Langley, BC
2022 Midsummer Arts Dream, Group Show, Lansdowne Centre, Richmond, BC
2020 Fort Langley Jazz Arts Festival Virtual Art Walk, Group Show, BC
2020 While We Were Away, Group Show, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, MA
Media & Publications
London Paint Club
Petal Projections
VISIONS Magazine
Brown Political Review
Langley Advance Times
The Indy