Art Convo with Susan Chen: The Richness of Asian American Representation in her Paintings
Works by Chen, About Face, 2020, and Tenzin & Her Cactus Garden, 2020. Courtesy of the artist.
I love to see Asian American subjects shine in Susan Chen’s paintings. Chen’s canvases stun with vivid texture, authenticity, major accessability, and a solid sense of community. Chen discusses maneuvering her art practice during lockdown, prioritizing self-care, and her dazzling debut solo show On Longing, which runs through September 26.
How are you feeling at this moment?
Surreal! In both a good way and rather strange way. This whole year has felt intense and dramatic, between the extreme lows and mega highs. From being abruptly asked to move out of our Columbia MFA studios and not being able to finish our second year properly due to the pandemic, to studio hopping from living rooms to bedrooms during lockdown, and then the dream of putting on a first solo show in New York City, while the world remains in chaos and the COVID-19 numbers keep rising. I feel very lucky and grateful, of course, that my first show was well received, and to have so much early support from collectors, critics, and art enthusiasts. But it’s also a strange time to be promoting my artwork at a time when people are dying. Maybe one just needs to embrace this all and go with the flow.
How have you balanced self-care and your art practice during these quarantined months?
After painting in the day, I like to take lavender Epsom salt baths in the evening before going to bed. It helps relax the muscles and puts you to sleep really easily, which helps ease anxieties. I was also gifted this journal for my birthday. It asks you to write down three things you’re grateful for, as well as how you gave back to the universe at the end of each day, and that’s been really nice. To be able to reflect each night on all the wonderful things you already have in life, versus the human nature of always wanting more. Otherwise, I’ve also found it's important to turn off the news/not have CNN on for too long, because all that negativity can really add stress to your mental health.
COVID-19 Survival Kit, 2020, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Meredith Rosen Gallery.
Your solo show On Longing, finds genuine ways to express quarantine life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Can you talk more about your solo show?
The gallery just so happens to have two rooms in the same space, so I was able to share two bodies of work for my first show – work made before the pandemic and then after. The paintings in the main room are of Asian American sitters I’ve found on social media, via different community groups, like Subtle Asian Traits, Subtle Asian Life NYC, Chinatowns of New York, NYC Yang Gang, etc. So, these were individuals I found on the Internet that I would then invite to the studio to paint. I started this project out of this yearning to just see more Asian faces in our Western institutions (galleries, museums, art centers), etc. And as I kept meeting more and more sitters, I realized there was a universal experience that was being shared across community members, that was a bit of a heartbreaking one. And so this led me into researching more about the social and psychological lives of Asian Americans. These paintings in some ways act as a mirror of the self too, and realizing what I was feeling was being felt by an entire population. In the process of making, I guess I was trying to seek words or terms for some of these feelings, or trying to understand them from a place that is bigger than the self.
When lockdown took place in March, I lost the opportunity to continue working with sitters, as well as my MFA studio, and so I had to start working from home. The paintings in the smaller gallery room are works I made in my living room during the lockdown. I found myself suddenly stocking up on sanitization products and canned goods, and so made a painting about that. I kept seeing a naked neighbour from across the window (cause now we were home all the time), and so was inspired to make a naked painting of myself. In doing so, I learned to question the way famous male artists in art history have depicted women over the centuries, yet how different of an experience or intention it was when you're a woman portraying yourself.
“It can sometimes feel difficult for Asian minorities to find this safe space in their day-to-day communities to have these conversations, especially if you don't find that support in your school or work.”
Nude Self Portrait, 2020, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Meredith Rosen Gallery.
Talk to me about Asian American representation in your paintings. What do you want to say and why is it important?
I was initially fascinated by the Facebook group Subtle Asian Traits, where 1.8 million Asians who live across Western countries or the diaspora, like America, Canada, Europe, Australia, etc., all came together on this group to bond over bubble tea, memes about being brought up by Asian parents; but also the more vulnerable questions like issues of race, feeling unseen, or this yearning to connect. It can sometimes feel difficult for Asian minorities to find this safe space in their day-to-day communities to have these conversations, especially if you don't find that support in your school or work. I initially began painting Asian sitters to bring awareness to these ideas of representation, and what a difference it can make to just see yourself more often – whether in mainstream media or across our art institutions. But as I continued deeper into this endeavour, I discovered there is actually a crisis going on in the Asian American community when it comes to social and psychological issues related to post-immigration and assimilation. I hope my paintings are able to shed some light for a community to share that these issues, or feelings of racial melancholia, seem to be universal and that you’re not alone.
“But as I continued deeper into this endeavour, I discovered there is actually a crisis going on in the Asian American community when it comes to social and psychological issues related to post-immigration and assimilation. I hope my paintings are able to shed some light for a community to share that these issues, or feelings of racial melancholia, seem to be universal and that you’re not alone.”
Yang Gang, 2020, oil on canvas. Courtesy of the Meredith Rosen Gallery.
I know times are uncertain, but feel free to share upcoming projects or other projects that you're excited about.
Our Columbia MFA Thesis Show has been postponed to April/May 2021, and so with my studio emptied out for this solo show, I now have to make totally new work for my Thesis Show, which I’m excited about, but also nervous (like most artists are with the fear of the blank canvas). I’m trying to find a way where I can keep working with sitters, but over Zoom. I’m also going to keep hacking away at these self-portraits and see how I can push those further. But all in all, I have to remember not to put too much pressure on myself and to just go with the flow, especially in these times. Whatever inspiration comes my way to just act on it day by day.
