Name: Hui-ju Chen (Mickey)
Location: Mexico, originally from Taiwan
Website: https://asingularcreation.com/Gallery/index.php?cat=12543
Brief artists statement:
ART is to me like a way to connect and disconnect with the whole world. The world is too big and life is too short, therefore, it is too much of a waste to spend too much time on making unnecessary associations, or trying too hard to relate myself with others half-heartedly. There is a way to reach out to people by expressing my real self and be real me, which is to make ART. I can be 100% honest to myself and to others; I can show how I feel without too much of elaboration; I can decide and control in my own world. Sometimes words and speeches get in the way. Art helps me to meditate and observe.
ART is no longer a “want-to-do”, but a “got-to-do” in life. I need them to support my own existence. It is to say, “My work has defined me”. There is no need for me to speak up, to shout and to scream out loud. ART shows me a way out in life and it follows me everywhere I go. My work has given me a passport to my own world and to reach out others’ world.
How did you become an artist? Did you always dream of a life in the art-world?
Since I was little, I always dreamed of becoming an artist. I am not quite sure about being a “real artist” now since I still dedicate most of my time to my daily job. However, ART is something I never want to quit, and I have been trying to keep up on creating.
How has your education helped your career?
I studied 5 years of visual design and 1.5 years of fine arts, in Taipei and in Chicago. I guess I absorbed different ways of thinking in two different cultures. Moreover, design and fine arts are two very different concepts. I learned how to organize and realize my ideas; at the same time, I know how to set myself free for inspirations and spontaneity.
Do you work as an artist full-time? Describe your typical day. Do you have a routine?
I do not work as a full-time artist. Frankly, I don’t think I can. I need inputs other than art itself. I need to see the world from different perspectives. My typical day is going to school to teach English. At the moment, I am a high school teacher of English, Chinese and art history. Being a teacher, I am often inspired by my students. With a stable job, I feel like having more ideas to work on my own personal projects. The negative side is the time. Lots of ideas haven’t been realized because of the lack of time.
Which historical and contemporary artists do you refer to most often? How are you influenced by their work?
Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí. Picasso inspires me of trying out different forms of art. Figures do not have to be realistic; in other words, they can be broken into pieces. With Dalí, the passion of being an eccentric drives me to do something different. Art should not be just the interpreter of the reality, art should creates its own reality.
What are your experiences of the ‘art-world’ and the business of art?
Exhibitions:
Paducah 1995, Yeiser Art Center. Paducah, Kentucky (USA).
2003 Instituto Cultural Peruano-NorteAmericano. Chiclayo, Peru.
2007 TEC de Monterrey. Culiacan, Mexico.
2007 La Casa de Cultura. Culiacan, Mexico
2007 Bistro Miró Café. Culiacan, Mexico.
2008 Galería José Luis Cuevas, Mexico.
2010 TEC de Monterrey. Culiacan, Mexico.
Finish this limerick:
There once was an artist from.. the ashes of her soul who comes alive.
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