Born in 1982 in Taichung, Taiwan, Chen Chu-li is currently based in Taoyuan. She majored in textile design and visual communication design in college and then obtained a Master’s degree in sequential design and illustration in 2006 from the University of Brighton in the UK. Some of the awards she has received include being named Student Illustrator of the Year at the V&A Illustration Awards, U.K. and receiving an Honorable Mention at the 3X3 Illustration Show, U.S.A. She also received a grant from the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan to participate in a residency at a printmaking studio in Spain.
Chen has worked as an illustrator and graphic designer for over a decade and also specializes in collaging, printmaking, and drawing. The images she creates deliver their intended messages and also exude a warmth that comes from being created by hand. Chen’s earlier works illustrated human behaviors and conditions and expressed the relationships between people in society through the narrative-driven images created. In recent years, she has transitioned into art that’s more abstract and purer. With messages and symbols removed, she works with pure and non-purpose-driven shapes, colors, lines, and spaces, seeking to construct what goes on in her inner state of mind. She breaks her habits of chasing after perfection when working by using creative media that are unpredictable and uncontrollable by nature, as she uses her body and hands to make endless arrangements and combinations, seeking to heal her mental conditions which make it challenging for her to find a sense of balance.
