Meet Singchun Chen | Art teacher & Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Singchun Chen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Singchun, why did you pursue a creative career?
I love to experience the diversity of life. Whenever I have keen and bright insight, I feel the breathing and pulsating, a fresh life. If we notice what we are doing every day, we will find that is having reaction to our senses immediately most of the time. Decision is made according to what we perceive. For example: Should I turn right or turn left to approach my destination more efficiently, or how shall I react when I am facing a person on the street? These perceptions keep us busy, we forget why we are here. Through combination of visual form and intellectual thinking, artistic expression becomes my daily practice to connect this world. It is quite similar to practicing mindfulness for me. I can step back and see, notice the space before I take the reaction.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Learn to see again just like first time when I make my art. The thing which burned itself into my vision become powerful and beautiful, then I find the hidden layers in the mundane when I paint. I love the nature. I used to chase many beautiful scenery in the distance for waking up my senses. I realized, suddenly, what surround me in my life are such an inspiration for my subject matter. It is the place where I take a walk around my home, I can feel clearly the four seasons’ wind blow, light and shadow changing. The most challenging part for me is to find the consistency to reach both the sensation and perception in the moment. Keep working, no matter good or bad, and stop asking myself “Are you good enough?” That is my way to face the challenge. I won’t push myself too much but just enjoy in painting. I run away sometimes when I feel empty. To go easy, to be filled with light, this attitude is also the lesson I learned from it. I wish people who look at my paintings can have a clearly fresh moment, to be filled with passion for seeing, for images, and devout attentiveness to the beauty of the nature.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love to introduce my friends about food and drink we have in the city. From the street food to Michelin star restaurants, depending on the budget, we have so many choices to try. Roast Duck, for example. You can have it in the Michelin 3 star restaurant in Le Palais hotel, or you can try it in the market. Different flavor but all can satisfy you. Talk about the drink, we have the world champion of coffee, he run a lovely and stylish coffee shop. There are also many good coffee shops to have coffee and food. We have the world champion of Whiskey, the Whiskey taste smoothly with a bit spicy. Not to mention much more drinks to try on the street and the market. There are also markets in different areas, people can meet hipsters and crafters and so on. This is not a quiet city, something interesting always happens from day to night.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband @liuhsichuan gave me the most support on my job, where I can do my best and devote to it. In the mean, he is also my best friend in every aspects, esp, on the intellectual part. He gives me some good suggestions which I can benefit from so far.

Instagram: //www.instgram.com/@cxingchun/
Facebook: //www.facebook.com/singchun/