AMPHIBIOUS - A Return to Self and Place - Paintings by Sichen Grace Chen

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Sichen Grace Chen

Sichen Grace Chen, "Take Responsibility," (detail), 2025, oil on canvas, 30" x 40"

Lipont Gallery presents

AMPHIBIOUS - A Return to Self and Place - Paintings by Sichen Grace Chen

Opening July 5th, 2025, 2-4pm

https://openingsg.eventbrite.ca

Artist Talk: July 9th, 2025, 6-8pm

https://talksg.eventbrite.ca

Exhibition: July 5 - 24, 2025

Mon-Fri 10am-5pm or by appointment at www.lipontgallery.ca

Address: Lipont Place, Room 218 (no elevator), 4211 No. 3 Road, Richmond, BC, V6X 2C3

Richmond, BC – Lipont Gallery is excited to present AMPHIBIOUS – A Return to Self and Place, a solo exhibition featuring the works of Langley and Vancouver-based artist Sichen Grace Chen, also known as “SG”. Chen explores the interconnectedness of human, more-than-human, and technological realms, focusing on spaces of memory and emotional resonance.

Chen’s early years were marked by constant movement between different places such as Chengdu, China, British Columbia, and Rhode Island, where she lived and studied. This was her initial experience of self–fluid, adapting, and constantly re-forming. Currently, she lives in Langley, and her artistic practice, studies, and creations are deeply rooted in Vancouver. Here, her body, mind, and spirit are re-converging, creating a sense of wholeness, a true return to self within a defined time and space. This "coming home to herself," this return to essence, resonates deeply with Chen’s paintings.

Like her abstract, fiery forms resembling complex organisms or a nebula, pulsating with vibrant orange and red hues against a monochromatic background, her journey has been one of intense energy and organic growth. The interwoven strands and tendrils in her work mirror the tangled network of experiences that have shaped her own return, creating a sense of movement. The vastness evoked in her paintings, like outer space or a deep ocean, reflects the immensity of the inner, emotional and cerebral landscape she has traversed.

This sense of return extends beyond the personal. She thinks of water and its inherent fluidity and its fundamental connection to all life. Our species, intrinsically linked to every other life form, cannot survive in isolation. This realization underscores the profound interconnectedness of all things, a constant flow, much like water, that binds us to creatures beyond the human and the very essence of our shared existence. Chen’s luminous, star-shaped forms and swirling, celestial-like formations, suggestive of dynamic energy, capture this sense of mystery and wonder. Even the simple wooden bench, house, garden plants, and grassy landscape in some of her paintings, symbolizing a comfortable and domestic life, speak to the universal longing for belonging and connection.

The exhibition will be on view at Lipont Gallery from July 5 to July 24, 2025, with a public opening reception on Saturday July 5th, from 2-4 PM. An artist talk will take place on Wednesday July 9th, from 6-8 PM, offering audiences an opportunity to meet the artist and delve into her creative processes.

Exhibition Details

Dates: July 5 - 24, 2025

Hours: Mon – Fri 10am-5pm or by appointment (visit www.lipontgallery.ca to book.)

Address: Lipont Place, Room 218 (no elevator), 4211 No. 3 Road, Richmond, BC, V6X 2C3

Admission: Free

Parking: Free on the south side of the building.

Transit: Aberdeen Station

To learn more and book your appointment, please visit www.lipontgallery.ca.

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About Sichen Grace Chen

Sichen Grace Chen, or “SG”, is a painter and illustrator who resides as a first-generation Chinese Canadian immigrant and settler on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral territories of the Máthxwi (Matsqui), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), q̓ic̓əy (Katzie), and Se’mya’me’ (Semiahmoo) First Nations, also known as Langley. She has over five years of experience as a visual arts educator in post-secondary institutions and arts and culture organizations, providing a holistic curriculum of discovery-based learning and skill-building for all ages. Symbolized by the pairing of her Chinese name, Sī Chén (思辰), and her English name, Grace, Chen is captivated by the complex relationships between seemingly disparate ideas, objects, and identities. Growing up in Chengdu, China, for the first few years of her life and often moving between cities in British Columbia has led her to garner an appreciation for the sentimentality and physicality of natural and synthetic landscapes and entities, and everything in between. Her graduate thesis explores the environment of the Pacific Northwest and the interconnectivity between the human, more-than-human, and technological, with water as the through line.

She holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and is pursuing her MFA at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU). She is the co-founder and creative director of Atelier Aloera.

About Lipont Gallery

Founded in 2017, Lipont Gallery is a commercial art gallery dedicated to promoting contemporary art by Vancouver-based artists. Our mission is to enhance the local community's engagement and understanding of art through diverse and dynamic programming. We are committed to supporting local talent, providing a platform for artists to showcase works that might otherwise remain unseen. We pride ourselves on collaborating with various organizations to integrate diverse voices and expand the contemporary art landscape.