Cheryl Chen
Personal Portfolio
Introduction
Before working as an art teacher to children based in Vancouver, Canada, Cheryl Chen had finished studying art craft and graphic design back in China in the 1990s. After the short-term working experience for a newspaper publisher in Vancouver in 2004, she decided to go back to school and finished a diploma program in Graphic Design in 2012 to continue her career after maternity leave. However, after graduating from the Art Institute of Vancouver, her career route changed by chance, thanks to an internship to teach art in an education center. Now, she has been working in fine arts for almost ten years, and she feels the urgency and the need to upgrade herself again. After completing the first year of the BFA program at the University of British Columbia (UBC), she decided to go to the University of Arts in London (UAL) to take a master’s degree in fine art in Printmaking to seek more opportunities to explore the professional area.
As an experienced artist, Cheryl is willing to open her mind to the scope of the world of visual art, holding speculative and optimistic attitudes toward the unknown challenges. She values the effective communication between the artwork and the viewers and the connection between artists and the world. She believes that expressing oneself and making voices for the social occurrences are indispensable as an existence in this Anthropocene.
Work Experience
Art Box Studio
(Burnaby, Canada)
Art teacher
Self-employed
Jul 2012 – Present
Main duty included instructing children from kindergarten to Gr.12 and adult students drawing, painting, and crafting skills. Participating international and national wild art competitions periodically. Tutoring senior high school students in the Art AP programs and providing academic coaching.
Canadian Overseas Holdings Inc.
(Vancouver, BC, Canada)
Graphic Designer
Full Time
Main duty included layout design for the China Journal newspaper, formatting the design style, such as typeface, grid and details. Advertising design was also involved. The clients included wine house, food retail and real estate etc.
Jul 2004 - Jun 2005
Global Views Agency
(Shanghai, China)
Art Director
Full Time
Formatted the style of the Global Views magazine. The main duties included establishing a design system, working procedures and layout template. Weekly discussions and monthly critiques were also part of the duties.
Jan 2002 – Jun 2003
Awards & Exhibitions
Online Interview, permanently published
The Al-Tiba 9 Contemporary Art Magazine
10 Questions with Chang Chen | Al-Tiba9 Contemporary Art (altiba9.com)
The magazine includes features on art for artists from around the globe, it aims to give the spotlight and to provide a unique art space for artists. It aims also to create a space where individual artists can freely express themselves and engages the selected artists with their readers and followers every day through their social media, website, and print and digital issues.
July 15th 2021-August 15th 2021, Online Exhibition
Marvelous Art Gallery
Marvelous Art Gallery presents a selection of artists' work. They are widely recognized for a unique artistic process and have traveled all over the world to create original, innovative fine art. Owing to unforgettable cultural encounters, great teachers and personal ambition, this talented artist seeks to spread artistry on an international scale.
2021, 2019
The Excellent Art Instructor Award
CreArt 2021 Canadian Painting & Design Competition for Children and youth, Canada
2019
Student Award winning:
Children Bronze Award
2019 China International Children’s Cartoon Competition, China
2017
Student Award Winning:
International First Prize
JQA International Environmental Children's Drawing Contest 2017, Japan
2016
The Excellent Art Instructor
The 3rd International Competition & Exhibition of Youth and Children’s Hand-written and Hand-drawing Postcards 2016, Canada
Academic Experience
Master Degree, University of the Arts London, UK
September 2022
MA Fine Art at Camberwell College of Arts promotes the idea of practice as research. It offers pathway specialisms in many directions in Fine Art area, such as printmaking. During the course I developed a critical relationship to tradition. I examined the ways in which methods and materials shape the agenda in contemporary art practice.
1st Year of BFA, University of British Columbia, Canada
September 2020 - April 2021
During the year, I explored a discipline that has an enduring capacity for invention and reinterpretation. Through material investigation and critical research, you will interrogate the discipline’s response to urgent contemporary debates and past world traditions in painting.
Undergraduate Diploma, Donghua University, China
September 1996 - July 1999
It is a 3-year diploma program in Fashion Design. It emphasizes on developing individual abilities and analytical skills within each specialist pathway. I learned the idea that progressive design is not solely a creative endeavor. It must also engage with markets, the industry and society in general and therefore be the result of an informed point of view.