Susan M B Chen

Columbia University School of the Arts

Artwork title: Waiting
oil on linen | 30 x 24 inches

Tell us about the work that you have submitted.
I question ideas of visibility in response to the lack of Asian-American representation in figure paintings within Western art institutions. This painting pays homage to the importance of #representationmatters and the social media phenomenon #subtleasiantraits – a group of millennial Asians across the West yearning to feel inclusion.

How do you describe your work and practice?
By painting portraits of Asian-Americans, I survey members of my racial community to understand the psychology of race and the varying viewpoints on ideas of home, immigration, prejudice, family, identity, longing and loss.

What motivated you to apply to the AXA Art Prize?
I believe figurative work has the ability to empower one’s sense of self-worth. Particularly with Asian-Americans living in a society that rarely shows Asian-American faces in everyday media, I hope exposure from the AXA Art Prize can help a community feel included, accepted, and part of a greater social conversation.

What is your background in art?
As a first-generation American, seeing from both the lens of an ethnic majority in Asia as well as that of a minority in America, I question my own identity and sense of belonging through self-perception. This is in contrast to how society prefers to see me, namely through restrictive personas or stereotypes.

www.susanmbchen.com
Instagram | @susanmbchen