Stacey Chen
- Anna Lilli Garai
- Aug 12
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 18
Stacey Chen is a Taiwanese artist based in Chicago, working across painting, drawing, and installation. Her work reflects on moments of personal change, often focusing on quiet scenes filled with emotional detail. With a background in industrial design and fine art, she builds imagined yet familiar spaces, as seen in works like “The Catwalk” and “The Waiting Room.” Her compositions explore progress, aging, and the steady pace of everyday life.
Q: How did your journey as a multidisciplinary artist lead you to create this graphite collection?
A: Working across disciplines has taught me to pay attention to both narrative and detail — how even the smallest choice can shape how a piece is experienced. Whether I’m designing a product, illustrating digitally, or creating a sculpture, I always aim to evoke a specific emotional response. With graphite, I wanted to pare everything back to its essence — no color, no digital layers — and focus entirely on texture, shadow, and form. This collection grew out of a desire to create something more intimate and contemplative, to explore nuance and quiet emotion in a way that feels distinct from my other practices, yet still deeply connected to them. It’s a reminder that sometimes simplicity can communicate more powerfully than complexity.
Q: Do you see your collection "Life’s Journey" as a culmination of your past experiences, or more as a departure into new territory?
A: I see it as both a culmination and a departure. On one hand, it draws on everything I’ve learned — my fascination with observation, my sensitivity to everyday moments, and my desire to tell a story through visual language. But it also represents a new direction for me. It’s more introspective and raw than my past work, more willing to sit in ambiguity and vulnerability. In that way, it feels like stepping into a different emotional space while still carrying forward the ideas and sensibilities that have always been important to me.
Q: "The Catwalk" deals with scrutiny and societal constraints — do you see this as a reflection of your own experiences in creative fields?
A: Yes, very much so. "The Catwalk" reflects the thresholds we all cross throughout life, and for me, it also speaks to the scrutiny that comes with being part of creative industries — where progress often feels mechanical, driven by external expectations rather than personal rhythm. Like the conveyor in the piece, I’ve felt carried forward at times by systems and structures that can feel validating yet confining, with unspoken rules shaping how you’re perceived.
The flames at the figure’s feet mirror the quiet determination it takes to keep moving forward despite challenges, compromises, and the weight of judgment. In many ways, it encapsulates how it feels to stay true to yourself while navigating cultural and institutional pressures.
Q: In "Beneath the Waves," there’s a quiet persistence despite an unfamiliar setting. How does this piece resonate with your own story as an artist?
A: "Beneath the Waves" reflects what it’s like to move through unfamiliar, even disorienting creative spaces — to trust your instincts in environments you can’t fully control.
As an artist, I’ve often found myself navigating currents of expectation and uncertainty, much like the dreamlike seascape in the piece. Yet, like the figure moving through those depths, I’ve learned to adapt, to let those unseen emotional and cultural currents guide me rather than overwhelm me. It celebrates the quiet resilience required to keep going even when the destination isn’t clear, which feels deeply personal to my own journey.
Q: "Happy Birthday" suggests a bittersweet take on celebration and mortality. Was this informed by a personal moment or a more universal observation?
A: This piece was born more from a universal reflection than a specific personal moment. "Happy Birthday" examines the complex emotions behind life’s milestones — how each year is both a celebration and a reminder of impermanence. Like the layers of the cake in the piece, we accumulate experiences and memories that shape us, even as time inevitably wears us down. I wanted to explore how we mark these passages with joy and gratitude, while also acknowledging the fragility beneath. It’s a feeling I think everyone can relate to in some way — that balance of sweetness and vulnerability.
Q: "The Waiting Room" feels intimate yet communal. How do you hope viewers interpret this closing note in the series?
A: I hope viewers see "The Waiting Room" as a moment of quiet reckoning, both personal and shared. To me, it reflects the inevitable pause at the end of a journey — a space to reflect, to sit with one’s burdens and memories, and to prepare for whatever comes next. The suspended time in the piece, with the clock quietly looming, speaks to how we all experience moments of waiting, and how even in those vulnerable spaces, there is dignity and connection. Each figure carries their own story, yet they sit together, reminding us that even in our most private reckonings, we are part of a larger, human narrative.
Q: In what ways does this fine art collection feel like a personal or professional milestone?
A: This collection feels like an important milestone because it reflects a more vulnerable, distilled version of my voice as an artist. It’s a conscious step away from polished, client-facing work and into something more personal and introspective. It challenged me to sit with ambiguity, to embrace quiet emotion, and to trust that simplicity can still be powerful. Professionally, it also feels significant because it shows another facet of my practice — one that bridges my design background with my fine art sensibility. It’s a reminder to myself that growth happens when you allow yourself to take risks and show who you really are through your work.
July 22, 2025 — Edited by Anna Garai
