In this episode of ‘Meet the artists’, we visit Chris Huen Sin Kan in his new London studio. There, he reflects on the many layers of reality, a process which results in deeply personal paintings. The quotidian scenes rendered by the Hong Kong-born artist are familiar, unrestrained, and formed by intuition. Executed using Chinese ink layering techniques and drawing on Western abstraction, the works are firmly located between worlds and cultures – actual or remembered.
The artist’s recent move to London has visibly impacted his practice. There is a fresh lushness to the landscapes in the recent watercolors and large-scale oil paintings seen here. Huen Sin Kan attributes this to his daily walks in the park with his family and dogs. This recurring cast also appears in almost all of the artist’s pictures. ‘I did some works without painting my family,’ he says. ‘Those works don’t feel quite right. I find that painting my family is an anchor to my artistic creation.’ Observations of the familiar also serve as the artist’s starting point to the question: how do each of us, human or animal, perceive the world?
Chris Huen Sin Kan is represented by Simon Lee Gallery (London, Hong Kong), Ota Fine Arts (Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo), and Gallery Exit (Hong Kong).
Tess, Balltsz and MuiMui and MuiMui and Balltsz (both 2021) are available at OTA Fine Arts. All other works seen in the film are available with Simon Lee Gallery.
Director: Luke Casey
Director of Photography: Tom Hall
Producer: Scarlett Barclay
Executive Producer: Aaron Z. Willson
Editor: Rudá Santos
Sound Designer: Alessandra Fasto
Color: Lee Butcher
Music: John Bartley
Runner: Aisha Kemp
Production Company: Ground Work
Creative Director: Bunny Kinney
Managing Director: Gavin Humphries
Nowness Video Commissioner: Katie Metcalfe
Producer: Noor Miah
Video Editor: Harry Bowley
Production: Alicia Reuter and Jeanne-Salomé Rochat for Art Basel
Produced in collaboration with Nowness
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