Collection: Portugal, aos poucos
Portugal, aos poucos is an ongoing series of drawings and paintings made in direct response to the Portuguese landscape. Created en plein air, the works reflect a gradual process of looking, returning, and becoming familiar with a place through sustained attention.
The series is rooted in my experience of Portugal as my current home. Through painting outdoors, I engage closely with its shifting light, atmosphere, and terrain—its ocean edges, riverbanks, cliffs, and urban spaces. Some works remain closely observed, while others move toward abstraction, distilling what is seen into colour, structure, and rhythm. In the O Tejo paintings, for example, the Tagus River becomes a geometric language shaped by water, movement, and the architecture of Lisbon.
At the heart of the series is a simple act: pausing long enough to notice. These works attend to how light changes across a day, how built and natural environments meet, and how history lingers within the land. Each painting holds the trace of a particular encounter, while also contributing to a broader reflection on place, belonging, and the slow formation of attachment. As the series continues, it grows through repeated visits, new locations, and changing ways of seeing. Taken together, the works form a personal and evolving portrait of Portugal—arrived at gradually, attentively, and piece by piece.
© Jen Chau 2026. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce, data scrape, use for AI training, or use commercially any of the content without written permission.