Sun Chan (Chen Shen)

Sun Chan (born 1932) is a self-taught artist who is known for his unique Chinese characters motifs. Born in Lima, Peru, in 1932 to an overseas Chinese family, Chan was brought back to Fóshān, Guǎngdōng China to study the Chinese language at the age of five. At this time Chan first became fascinated with Chinese characters. He has always loved calligraphy and painting but was unfortunately deprived of an education after the second grade due to the break out of the Pacific War. Chan went through considerable hardship in the subsequent years and later moved to Hong Kong, where he worked his way from the ground up and established himself as a successful entrepreneur.

As a great admirer of Chinese characters since childhood, Chan has studied the Chinese writing on his own for years. Decades ago he began making innovative artworks with Chinese characters merely to get his young daughters interested in their roots. What started out of an act of love has grown into his lifelong passion. Despite his lack of formal training in art Chan went on to explore with new visual representations for Chinese characters, and created various series of artwork throughout the years. With clean lines and vibrant colors, Chan transforms the Chinese script back into its pictorial form but as entirely new graphic emblems.

Chan's early works are mostly small drawings in pen and ink, color pencils, pastels and markers on paper while he constantly educates and refines himself in skills and switches to large-scale acrylic paintings in his more recent works. His artistic creations had been exhibited in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Paris, France, and he is to showcase his works in New York, USA in year 2017, and in Zurich, Switzerland by invitation of Ernst Hohl Cultural Foundation Appenzell in year 2018.

Chan's Chinese character artwork have been made into unique wall art and installed at prestigious institutions such as The Innovation Tower of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and The International School Academy of Hong Kong, and are also adopted in large-scale public sculptures as well as fashion/lifestyle products of an international luxury brand.

Chan has long retired from his businesses and currently resides in Gold Coast, Australia, where he continues to produce original Chinese character artworks with a penchant for creativity.