Today, we are introducing a remarkably creative fine artist, Ms. Emily Yuwei Chen, who skillfully blends the intricate craft of jewelry-making with the expressive medium of painting. Her unique approach results in captivating works that are not merely visual experiences but narratives embedded within layers of texture, symbolism, and technique. Chen's artistic journey is distinguished by her procedural approach to creation, viewing her work as a means to an end while remaining deeply rooted in the physicality and practice of making. Her pieces are a testament to the seamless integration of traditional craftsmanship with innovative digital design, showcasing her ability to transform everyday objects and personal symbols into profound artistic expressions.

“Consciously, I approach my work very procedurally, almost as if it is a means to an end. I find that this is most compatible with Jewelry making; I like that there is a craft and a practice focused on the act of making. After contemplating my paintings, I recognized that personal symbols taken from objects in my daily life began appearing alongside significant life changes. These motifs are hidden and assigned meanings that are not pertinent for the viewer to decipher. ” Ms. Chen said.

In her artistic process, Ms. Chen employs the 3D modeling software Rhino to craft forms that serve as reference images. Rhino enables her to explore objects from various perspectives, revealing internal landscapes as intricate as terrain. For instance, in constructing the blueprint for one of her compositions, she derived inspiration from a screenshot showcasing an object's interior view. Through experimentation with layering, Photoshop, projection, and collage, these rendered images evolved into the foundational structure of her paintings' initial layer.

"Drowning Sphere," one of her works, showcases her ambition to create polished surfaces that blend realism with abstraction. The most distant layer imagines a current of water, forming a graphic diagram that transitions from a portrait into a landscape. Closer to the viewer, ropes act as barriers between two spaces, while in the forefront, toruses morph into metallic donuts, narrating the painting's story. Central to the composition is a rattlesnake, symbolizing an auditory landscape, illuminated by bioluminescent light.

"Rattle Snake" delves into the theme of duality through cylindrical forms, presenting a subtle commentary on power dynamics without relying solely on symmetry. The inclusion of a rattlesnake introduces novel shapes conceived in Rhino, prioritizing conceptual representation over realistic depiction. Across three distinct paintings, Ms. Chen explores varied spaces and contexts, aiming to enrich each form with additional layers of meaning through repeated examination.

The practice of translating Rhino renderings into paintings enables Ms. Chen to infuse nonsensical objects from her jewelry work with narrative significance, portraying the worlds they inhabit. While the elements in her paintings may not always resemble their real-world counterparts, their arrangement often mirrors that of traditional representational art. In "Arachnid," for example, leg-like structural components serve architectural purposes, and disk-like elements suggest tectonic plates, anchoring the imagery in a landscape reminiscent of an island.

Though not her primary inspiration, Ms. Chen contemplates the principle of plenitude, which posits the existence of all possibilities somewhere in the universe. This perspective guides her exploration of the unrealized potential within our material world, imagining its place in an alternate reality paralleling familiar elements like land, sky, and water. Her paintings are visions of this "somewhere," where the conceivable and the non-existent coalesce to create new realms of possibility.