Henri Chen KeZhan

Henri Chen KeZhan 陈克湛 (Singaporean, b. 1959) is an abstract ink and wash painter who thrives on the border of Chinese and Western art. The subject matter of Chen’s paintings is nature, especially the lotus and other flowers. An enthusiastic gardener, he has even drawn inspiration from the plants he tends. The lotuses in his garden, for instance, inspired his Lotus series.

Being surrounded by nature is an important stimulant to his creativity. Music is Chen’s artistic muse, and listening to music while painting has become a ritual for him. Having studied both art and music, he fuses elements of sound and colour in his art. In Chen’s art, the orthodox marks of the Chinese brush are always evident, but they are recontextualised and reinterpreted within the realm of abstract expressionism. The fine balance and synthesis of both eastern and Western techniques of painting is characteristic of his works.