Jen Chau is an artist based in Lisbon, Portugal. Born in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA, and raised in Hong Kong, Jen’s Chinese heritage and multicultural background play a significant role in shaping her artistic perspective. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Commercial/Advertising Photography from Brooks Institute of Photography in California and a Master’s in Art Psychotherapy from Roehampton University, London. Jen holds both American and British nationalities.
Jen’s professional journey began as a commercial and advertising photographer in California, providing her with a solid technical foundation. She later transitioned into art psychotherapy in London, where she integrated psychological insight with artistic practice. These diverse experiences have shaped her current work, which explores the emotional and cultural dimensions of the human experience. The combination of her photography background and therapeutic work has led Jen to focus on painting, where she examines the subconscious and the visual language of identity.
Jen has continued her artistic education through various courses, including a Six Week Intensive at the Florence Academy of Art and the Turps Correspondence Course in the UK. Her work has been exhibited in group shows across Lisbon, Hong Kong, London, and Singapore.
Statement
My work explores the fluid boundaries between observation, memory, and imagination, creating a dialogue between the tangible world and the emotions it evokes. Through a process-driven approach, I merge real spaces, fading recollections, and abstracted forms, seeking to capture not just what is seen, but what is felt.
Observation serves as the foundation of my practice, grounding my work in the study of form, light, and atmosphere. Yet, rather than simply documenting reality, I allow my compositions to evolve beyond it—layering in memories, subconscious impressions, and intuitive mark-making. This interplay between representation and abstraction reflects the way we perceive the world: never as fixed or absolute, but as shifting and deeply personal.
At the heart of my work is an exploration of the transient nature of experience—how time, relationships, and environments shape and reshape us. I am drawn to the quiet transformations that occur in both physical spaces and human connections: the way a home holds its histories, the way objects decay and gather new meaning, the way people come together in times of uncertainty. Whether capturing domestic interiors, still life arrangements, or expansive landscapes, my paintings reflect on how moments accumulate, fade, and evolve.
Nature, in particular, serves as both subject and metaphor within this exploration. The sea, shifting light, and horizons evoke a sense of time passing—sometimes gently, sometimes with force—mirroring the rhythms of memory and human experience. These landscapes, whether real or imagined, function as spaces for reflection, capturing the impermanence that runs through all aspects of life.
At its core, my practice is an exploration of the tension between structure and spontaneity, the known and the unknown. By embracing experimentation and process, I invite the viewer to engage with their own perceptions—finding meaning in the spaces between what is real, remembered, and imagined.