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C. C. Ann Chen headshot

C. C. Ann Chen

Visual Artist & Educator
2021 Make a Wave
Visual Arts

C. C. Ann Chen is an artist and educator based in Chicago, IL. Her work stems from architecture and landscape, exploring perceptual translations and misinterpretations of place and time. Projects range from direct observation to site-specific work, engaging each landscape with an open, experiment-based approach. Recent work reflects journeys by sea, to remote places in the North Atlantic and Arctic. Chen uses drawing and collage to examine new ways of looking at and understanding landscapes.

Chen has exhibited in Chicago and beyond, including the Chinese American Museum of Chicago, slow gallery, Heaven Gallery, Glass Curtain Gallery at Columbia College, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Research House for Asian Art, Emerge Art Fair in Washington, D.C., Zhou B. Art Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Gallery 400, and The Franklin. Chen has been a recipient of the 3Arts Make a Wave Award, and the Midwest Voices and Visions Award. Her work has also been published in New American Paintings. Chen earned a BA in Architectural History from the University of Maryland, and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is currently Associate Professor, Adjunct, at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

 

Profile image by: courtesy of artist
An abstract landscape collage, composed with paper. The collage is center in a painted frame. Whereabouts, 2025. Pen and painter's tape on paper, 40-1/4" x 35-1/2" Photo: Tom Van Eynde

Featured Artworks

  • C. C. Ann Chen artwork C. C. Ann Chen: Whereabouts at Tiger Strikes Asteroid gallery view, Tiger Strikes Asteroid Photo: Tom Van Eynde
  • A wall-sized, abstract, collage composed with cut paper shapes. Old Prairie / Mere Moments, 2025 Pen and painter's tape on paper, 19' x 9' Photo: Tom Van Eynde
  • C. C. Ann Chen artwork Untitled, 2024 acrylic and pen on paper, air dry clay Photo: courtesy of artist
  • C. C. Ann Chen artwork Rest Assured, 2019-23 acrylic, pen, paint swatches on paper, 35” x 38” Photo: courtesy of artist
  • C. C. Ann Chen artwork Atmospheric, 2019 collage (digital print, pen, and paper), 10” x 15” Photo: courtesy of artist
  • C. C. Ann Chen artwork Midnight Sun, 2017 Neon, solar power panel & battery, LEDs, acetate Photo: courtesy of artist
  • painting of a abstract landscape Untitled, 2017 Acrylic and silverpoint on panel, 20" x 16" Photo: Tom Van Eynde
  • C. C. Ann Chen artwork Keeping In / Keeping Out, 2014 wood chips, mulch, 5’ x 50’ x 4’ Photo: courtesy of artist
  • C. C. Ann Chen artwork Full Bleed, 2013 colored acetate sheets, installation at former Peoria Cordage Co. warehouse Photo: courtesy of artist