CHENHUNG CHEN
Artist Statement
I examine exchanges between natural phenomena and the built environment through experimentation with mixed media drawing, as well as found and ready-made materials. My work engages Taoist concepts of “Chi” and co-existence with opposing forces, as visually represented in its ancient craft traditions and culture, and that continue to inform notions of modern Taiwanese-American identity.
I repurpose wire and electrical conduits as symbolic representations for the life force (“Chi”) that flows through all of us. Their fluid movement throughout my work draws a parallel with the experience of energy/Chi within myself. In my three-dimensional work, the crocheted wires indicate delicate and subtle qualities while the electrical conduits appear to be bold and powerful. This contrast parallels with the distinction of Yin and Yang, Female and Male.
Growing up in a Taiwanese society where Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism fused together harmoniously, the influence I absorbed causes me to put all these theories to test during the challenging times that we live in. My day-to-day practice is to search and experiment between theory and practice. And the process-oriented practice is deep-rooted in my way of life.
In my three-dimensional work I explore weaving, binding, and crocheting with industrial waste byproducts including cable, zip ties, electrical components, and purchased wire, which engages “weavings” of all elements into voluminous, interconnected, and sprawling forms. Crocheting is a skill I learned while growing up. While we learned it for utilitarian purposes, the repeating of the simple movements with my hands became a form of meditation: focusing on one single task and staying away from the looping mind. It is in this motion of addition, subtraction, and repetition through needlework that I work to portray something intangible.
When weaving the thread of dichotomy, like concord and dissonance, order and chaos, the subtle and the powerful, from these dichotomies, I’m working to make forms that deal with balance and portraying man’s unstoppable nature - the driving force that is bringing about this informational age. However, even with all this technology, man still must grapple with the consequences of his human condition; one’s social structures, faulty institutional ideologies, and one’s inability to see oneself in others. Technology not only influences our lives, but also in some ways changes our humanity and disconnects us from each other.
Rooted in the belief of the universal nature of human beings and drawing from my connections with the urban environment and ancient craft traditions, my work negotiates spaces of cultural, environmental, psychological, and temporal change. By using an array of commonplace objects, my art seeks to discover the link between one’s personal narrative and our collective humanity.
Artist Bio
Chenhung Chen is a Los Angeles-based contemporary artist whose mixed media drawings, sculptures, and installations navigate modernity through her transforming of found and bought industrial materials. Chen’s work investigates physical, social, and spiritual structures and how they intersect in contemporary culture.
Born in Beigang, Taiwan Chen has lived and worked in Taipei, Taiwan, New York, N.Y., and Los Angeles, CA. Through a number of residencies and international traveling experiences, Chen is situating herself between cultures while expressing herself from a global perspective.
Received a BA from the Chinese Cultural University, Taipei, Taiwan and a MFA at the School of Visual Arts in New York City where she studied with Michael Singer, Ursula von Rydingsvard and Jackie Winsor, etc. Their engagements with architecture, wood and uncommon materials in contemporary discourse influenced her experimenting with the possibility of space and materials, including wires and electrical cables.
Her artwork has been exhibited across the United States and internationally. Chen’s work has been exhibited at PS1 Long Island City, NY, Hwa Kang Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, UVU Woodbury Art Museum, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego Art Institute, Cal Poly Pomona the Kellogg University Art Gallery, Fullerton College Art Gallery, Crafton Hills College Art Gallery, El Camino College Art Gallery, Grafiska Sallskapet Galleri, Stockholm, Sweden, Torrance Art Museum, the Children Museum of Arts, New York, Main Museum, Los Angeles, Gallery 825, Walter Macial Gallery and Roberts Projects, Wonzimer Gallery, Los Angeles and Galleria Rankka, Helsinki, Findland. Chen was the subject of a solo show at Lancaster Museum of Art and History and a two-person show at Monterey Peninsula College Art Gallery in 2018. And she is featuring her solo exhibition at LAX Terminal 7 Art Gallery in 2023. Her work has been written about in the Artillery Magazine, Hyperallergic, Easy Reader News, Long Beach Post, The Creators Project, Konbini, Art and Cake, Diversions LA, 365artists365days, Trebuchet Magazine and We Choose Art.
Education
MFA 1988 School of Visual Arts, New York
BA 1983 Chinese Culture University, Taiwan
Teaching Experience
2017-2020 Adjunct Professor, teaching Drawing124 &125, Painting 126 & 226, and Art 105 Modern Art History at Department of Fine Arts, Crafton Hills College, Yucaipa, CA
Solo, Two-Person & Three-person Exhibitions
2024 RE: PURPOSE (three-person show), organized by James Panozzo, a public facing art installation at space D105 of The Beverly Connection, Los Angeles, CA
2024 bLAh, bLAh, bLAh (two-person exhibition), Launch LA Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Awake in the Dream, Los Angeles International Airport, LAX Terminal 7 Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Time / Timeless (two-person exhibition), Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
2018 Entangled Experience (two-person exhibition), Monterey Peninsula College Art Gallery, Monterey, CA
2018 I Ching in America 2.0, Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA
2017 I Ching in America #32, Shoebox Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2016 Crossings, Crafton Hills College Art Gallery, Yucaipa, CA
2016 Entelechy, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2015 Required Reading, Antenna Studio, Los Angeles, CA
2013 Dancing with the Formless, Blackboard gallery, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo, CA
1992 New Work, Arts Alliance of Haverstraw, Haverstraw, NY
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
The Arcade of Hypermodernity, Curated by Jason Jenn & Vojislav Radovanovic, Blackboard Gallery, Studio Channel Islands Art Center, Camarillo,CA
2023
Nomad II, pop-up exhibition organized by Torrance Art Museum, Del Amo Crossing, Torrance, CA
Forage / Gather, Curated by Carolyn Mason, Fellows of Contemporary Art, LA, CA
Paper Route, Curated by Baha H Danesh, Art Share LA, LA, CA
Incantation, Curated by Chenhung Chen, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, CA
In the Sculpture Garden, Curated by Peggy Sivert, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Melting Furnace, Curated by Stephanie Sherwood & Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Galleria Rankka, Helsinki, Finland
Zimmer Frei, Curated by Snezana Saraswati Petrovic, Wonzimer Gallery, LA, CA
2022
L.A. Abstracted, Curated by Baha H Danesh, Art Share LA, LA, CA
CA101 2022, Curated by Nina Laddon, Redondo Beach Historic Library, Redondo Beach, CA
2021
Refecting from Home, online exhibition, Curated by Diane Williams, LA, CA
All Creatures Great and Small, Curated by Colin Fraser Gray, Vita Art Center, Ventura, CA
Nomad, pop-up exhibition organized by Torrance Art Museum, Del Amo Crossing, Torrance, CA
2020
We Are Here/Here We Are, Curated by Sean Noyce & Durden & Ray, LA, CA
Collaborate & Create, Curated by Andi Campognone, Lancaster Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA
Home/Front, online exhibition, curated by Kristine Shoemaker, LA, CA
Intra-Being: Ecological Civilization, Curated by Khang Bao Nguyen, LA Spring/Break Art Show 2020, Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles Landscapes, a collaboration project organized by Diane Williams, USC Roski Graduate Building, Los Angeles, CA
Diverse Art LA, Curated by Marisa Caichiolo, LA Art Show, Los Angeles, CA
Collaborate & Create, Curated by Andi Campognone, Loft at Liz’s, Los Angeles,CA
2019
Art by Us, Crafton Hills College Art Gallery, Yucaipa, CA
Handjob, Curated by Colin Roberts, Lava Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Applied Science, Curated by Marisa Caichiolo, Gallery 825, LA, CA
Transiting 2, Curated by Lawrence Gipe, Joseph Gross Gallery, University of Arizona, Tucson, Tucson, AZ
Forest Bathing, Curated by Betty Ann Brown, The Loft at Liz's, LA, CA
Sway, Curated by Chenhung Chen, Brand Library & Art Center, Glendale, CA
2018
Shades of Water, Curated by Baha H Danesh, The Mezz Gallery at the Montalban Theather, Hollywood CA
The Third Annual Office Hours Exhibition, Curated by Allison Agsten, The Main Museum LA, Los Angeles, CA
Holding Up ½ the Sky, Curated by Jill Moniz, Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, CA
The Creative Magic of Collaboration - 50/50, Curated by Concepcion Sanford,The Progress Gallery Pomona CA
With Liberty and Justice for Some, Curated by Monica Lundy & Walter Maciel, "Art and Activism:Drawing the Line", Children's Museum of The Arts, New York
Dialectic Of Being & Becoming, Highways Performance Space at the 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
Studio System II, Curated by Max Presneil, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
Feminism Now, Grafiska Sallskapet Galleri, Stockholm, Sweden
Start Up Art Fair San Fransisco, with the Kipaipai Group, San Fransisco, CA
Feminism Now, Shoebox Projects, Los Angeles, CA
Moving Line, Curated by Susanna Meiers, El Camino College Art Gallery, Torrance, CA
Trappings, Curated by Robert Benitez, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
Salvage, Art Exchange Long Beach, Long Beach, CA
2017
2017 Open Show, Curated by Anna Katz, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
Personal Vacation, Curated by Chris Davies, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
With Liberty and Justice for Some, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
Line: Five Different Stories, Inland Empire Museum of Art, Upland, CA
Cross Town Traffic, Manhattan Beach Creative Arts Center, Manhattan Beach, CA
Out There, Curated by Francisco George & William Escalera, Gallery 825, LA, CA
Semi-Precious, Curated by Shana Nys Dambrot, Heidi Johnson & Rick Robinson, Art Share L.A., LA , CA
Parallels: Art = Medicine – Poetry of Acupuncture, Crafton Hills College Art Gallery, Yucaipa, CA
Sanctuary City: With Liberty and Justice for Some, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
User To User, Curated by Bennett Roberts, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
Fresh 2017, Curated by Fatemeh Burnes and Peter Frank, South Bay Contemporary: SoLA Gallery, LA, CA
Personal Narrative, Annenberg Beach House, Santa Monica, CA
Powers of Nine, Highland 913 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
With Liberty and Justice for Some, Co-curated by Monica Lundy, Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016
So Cal/Baja Biennial, Curated by Anthony Graham, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
2016 Open Show, Curated by Jennifer Inacio, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
Fauxism: Dada Centennial Part 2, Curated by Kio Griffith, MUZEUMM Gallery, LA, CA
MASque Attack 13, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
Ink & Clay 42, Curated by Patrick Crabb, Denise Kraemer and Peter Mays, California State Polytechnic University, The Kellogg University Art Gallery, Pomona, CA
All Media 2016, Curated by Dan Cameron, Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA
Spectra, Curated by Shana Nys Dambrot, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, CA
Play, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Annual Benefit Auction, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
CA101 2016, South Bay Galleria, Redondo Beach, CA
Fauxism: Chinese Lanscape, Curated by Kio Griffith, Balconi Coffee Company, Santa Monica, CA
Spectrum Gestalt 3, BG Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
Out There, Curated by Francisco George & William Escalera, Gallery 825, LA, CA
We Choose Art/A Feminist Perspective 2.0, MUZEUMM Gallery, LA, CA
TXT Me, Curated by Leisa Austin, Orange County Center for Comtemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA
Things Fall Apart, Curated by Shana Nys Dambrot, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, CA
31st Annual Made In California Juried Exhibition, City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA
MASque Attack 12, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
Innovative Materials, Night on Broadway, Spring Arcade Building, LA, CA
2015
Blank Canvas, Washington Reid Gallery, Culver City, CA
MASque Attack 9, Temporary Space, Los Angeles, CA
Where The Magic Happens, Gallery H of Phantom Galleries LA, Hawthorne, CA
Root Systems, Curated by Shana Nys Dambrot, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, CA
Spectrum Gestalt 2, BG Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
CA101 2015, AES Power Plant, Redondo Beach, CA
Art Fusion 2015 – A Juried Show, Curated by Scott Candy, Gallery H of Phantom Galleries LA, Hawthorne, CA
Summer National Juried Exhibition, Curated by Nancy Meyer, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Novato, CA
Kuwento Engkuwentro: Angeleno Folklore, Legends and Sidewalk Stories, Pico House, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, Los Angeles, CA
The Art of Our Century, Curated by Whitney Tassie, Utah Valley University Woodbury Art Museum, Orem, Utah
53rd International Exhibition, Curated by David A. Ross, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego
Fusion, Curated by Olivia Ongpin, Arc On-Line Gallery, San Francisco, CA
From Her 2015: An Exhibition by Women about Women, Pico House Gallery, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, Los Angeles, CA
B/W, Curated by Laura Watts, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2014
1772, Art Skyline Gallery, Tainan, Taiwan
Aurora, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
1772, Hwa Kang Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Informationary, Curated by Herair & Lori Garboushian, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
Cultural Excavation, Curated by Elizabeth James, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
From Her: An Exhibition by Women about Women, Pico House Gallery, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, Los Angeles, CA
2013
Nurture Art Benefit, Bernarducci Meisel Gallery, NY
View from Within, Curated by Gary Lang, Blackboard gallery, Studio Channel Islands Art Center. Camarillo, CA
2012
Group Exhibition, Primavera Gallery, Ojai, CA
1994
Women Artists Group Exhibition, Arts Alliance of Haverstraw, NY
1993
Group Exhibition, Cork Gallery, Avery Fischer Hall, Lincoln Center, NY
Group Exhibition, 456 Gallery, NY
1990
Tiananmen Square, PS1 Museum, NY
1988
MFA Thesis show, Visual Arts Gallery, NY
1987
The Boxes, La Mama Gallery, NY
Awards, Honors, Special Project & Residencies
2021 Acknowledgement Award, The 21 “Master Chairs” bench design for the 31st FISU Summer World University Games Chengdu 2021, China
2020 Commissioned a piece of sculpture by Hosa Technology, Inc., Buena Park, CA
2018 Residency at Studio System II, Torrance Art Museum, CA, artist fellowship.
2018 Award of professional development funds from the Quick Grant Program of the Center for Cultural Innovation
2017 Residency at Shoebox Projects, Los Angeles, CA
2017 Residency at The Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences, Rabun Gap, Georgia, artist fellowship.
2014 Certificate of Appreciation, City of Los Angeles
Press
Joseph A. Hazani, ”Blah,Blah,Blah” by Chenhung Chen & Snezana Saraswate Petrovic @Launch LA Gallery, ADilettante, Feb.16, 2024
Betty Ann Brown, Zimmer Frei, Artillery Magazine, May/June, 2023
Lorraine Heitzman, "A Walk through the Woods in Los Angeles," Art and Cake, June 6, 2019
Genie Davis, "Sway Moves Us: Exciting Exhibition from Seven Artists at the Brand," Diversions LA, May 17, 2019
Betty Ann Brown, "Sway: The Web of Life at the Brand," Art and Cake, May 4, 2019
Genie Davis, "Holding 'Sway' at the Brand and more", Artillery Magazine, May 2, 2019
Genie Davis, "October Art Scene Fully Charged," Artillery Magazine, Oct. 23, 2018
Renee Reizman, "Eclectic Projects Are Brewing At a Massive Artist Loft in LA," Hyperallergic, Oct. 14, 2018
Genie Davis, "Chenhung Chen at MOAH’s Robot Show," Diversions LA, August 31, 2018
Lawrence Gipe, "Final Round Up: Studio System II at Torrance Art Museum," Art and Cake, August 8, 2018
Genie Davis, "Studio System II @Torrance Art Museum: Audience with a Muse," Diversions LA, June 30, 2018
Lawrence Gipe, "Studio System II @Torrance Art Museum: Half-Time," Art and Cake, June 20, 2018
Karen Robes Meeks, "Studio System II," Daily Breeze, June 14, 2018
"Meet Chenhung Chen," Voyage LA, Apr. 30, 2018
Genie Davis, "Feminism Now at Shoebox Projects: An International Collaboration," Art and Cake, Feb. 25, 2018
Bondo Wyszpolski, "'Moving Line' Art at El Camino College", Easy Reader News, Feb. 22, 2018
Genie Davis, "'Salvage' at Art Exchange Long Beach," Art and Cake, Feb. 7, 2018
Asia Morris, "Local Artists Respond to current Political Environmental Chaos in Salvage," Long Beach Post, Jan. 5, 2018
Genie Davis, "Chenhung Chen: I Ching in America," Diversions LA, Dec 4, 2017
Genie Davis, "I Ching in America: Chenhung Chen Renders the Invisible Visible," Art and Cake, Dec. 1, 2017
Genie Davis, "What a Place: Art in Place at Newberry Lofts Long Beach," Diversions LA, Nov. 26, 2017
Jackie Bell Johnson, "Mugwort, Mogusa & Art, the building Blocks of an International Exchange," Art and Cake, May, 7, 2017
Genie Davis, "The Brewery Art Walk-Spring 2017 Edition," Diversions LA, May 8, 2017
Sam Whiting, "Immigrant Art Show Starts as Chain Letter," San Francisco Chronicle, Mar. 29, 2017
"Sanctuary City: With Liberty and Justice for Some," San Francisco Magazine, Mar. 16, 2017
"Annenberg Community Beach House presents 'Personal Narrative'," Fabrik, Feb. 21, 2017
Genie Davis, "Walter Maciel Gallery Shines with Politics and Poetry," Art and Cake, Feb. 4, 2017
Richard gleaves, "2016 Southern California/ Baja Biennial at the San Diego Art Institute," Art and Cake, Dec. 2016
Genie Davis, "Celebrating DADA through Fauxism," Art and Cake, Dec. 12, 2016
Jackie Bell Johnson, "Chenhung Chen at Crafton Hills College Art Gallery," Art and Cake, Nov. 19, 2016
Crossings / A Solo Show by Chenhung Chen, Artillery Magazine, Nov. 2016
"Inspiration of the Day - Now Be Here: Chenhung Chen," MuseumMom.org, Oct.29, 2016
Genie Davis, "Continuing and Recommended," Art Scene, May 2016
Genie Davis, "Four Solo Shows Connect at LAAA's Gallery 825," Diversions LA, Apr.18, 2016
"Chenhung Chen: 'Entelechy'," Fabrik, April. 8. 2016
Desiree Cormier, "Chenhung Chen/Entelechy," We Choose Art, March 29, 2016
"Chenhung Chen's Entelechy Opening April 9th in WeHo," Konbini, March 24, 2016
Alyssa Buffenstein,"This Artist Crochets Sculptures from Cords and Controllers," The Creators Project, March 20, 2016
"Artist Creates Ethereal Sculptures From Discarded Cable, Electrical Wire," ARTFIX daily, March 10, 2016
Genie Davis, "The Art of Walking, Fall Brewery Art Walk," Diversions LA, October 12, 2015
Genie Davis, "Magical Night at Gallery H of Phantom Galleries: 'Where the Magic Happens'," Diversions LA, October 8, 2015
Genie Davis, "Chenhung Chen-The Power of Lines," Diversions LA, July 28, 2015
Chenhung Chen, 365 Artists 365 Days, July 2015
Genie Davis, "Duchamp, Cy Twombly and Outrageous Family," Trebuchet Magazine, July 1, 2015