Daniel Chen

Daniel Chen is a painter based in San Francisco, California. He split his time growing up between the SF Bay Area and Taiwan. After college, he decided not to attend law School, but rather pursue his first passion. He has degrees from the Academy of Art University and California College of the Arts.

Daniel first learned to paint from his maternal grandfather, who was a traditional calligraphy painter and an art teacher. Daniel’s mother is also an oil painter based in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Daniel has shown at Luna Rienne Gallery, Heron Art Gallery, and 111 Minna Gallery and is in the Chase Center Private Collection.

"I make paintings of memories. Memories are oftentimes fragmented and fuzzy. I think we see memories as a whole, but the edges are blurred and the details are frayed. Sometimes we change details to protect our own egos or to completely mask other parts of ourselves that we want to forget. These little details might not be complete, but when we step back and see things as a whole, the picture comes together. 

As technology becomes more integrated with modern life. Our ability to recall visual memory has been hindered by the ubiquitous phone in our pockets. It is much easier to take quick snapshot of an event and store it away. As life becomes more interminably entrenched with technology, what becomes of our memories and visual acuity. 

Using pixelated and fragmented planes, I “filter” my paintings through this visual lens. Up close, the paintings make no sense, the details are blown out. As we rely more on technology to capture our memories, our ability to imprint our own becomes frayed."

-Daniel Chen

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