Artist Statement
Cece’s approach to her work is a meditative and reflective journey as she seeks to translate her inner thoughts, dialogue and often her hopes and aspirations onto canvas. Her painting is an exploration of her identity as a mother, a woman of faith, a Chinese Canadian, and all different facets of her life. She is inspired by her natural surroundings as well as her inner state and often seeks out a sense of calm within the overall themes of each painting. Her choice of mixed media, colours, composition, details and scale are intuitive conversations she engages in as she moves between actively painting and slow, long pauses of reflection to allow her thoughts and emotions to emerge into her work.
SHADES OF DAWN is a collection of paintings borne out of moments of silence and solitude. To experience the work is to take in the quiet of early mornings, before the day begins, before the city awakes. It is a call to quiet ourselves, set aside our ever present roles and duties, and to make space for moments of silence and solitude to bring restoration and strength to our fractured and overstretched selves.
The collection of soft, neutral tones and hues are reflective of the early morning slivers of light and the calm and quiet sense of taking in the day slowly. In solitude, we rest. But in solitude, we also awaken to ourselves, our innermost identity and the purest thoughts within us untouched by our environment yet. In silence, we can hear ourselves breathe, we can simply be, without any distraction. In silence, we can connect with our deeper desires and our own strength without the influence of outside voices and opinions.
The gentle yet free flowing nature of marks and colours in this collection are reflective of that dreamy wandering state of our minds as we bring ourselves into silence and solitude. It is often a hazy, almost out of body experience as we form one thought that leads to the next and the next. However, the calm and the quiet - in us and surrounding us - eventually brings everything into focus, allowing us to hear our own thoughts and to experience a rare sense of being fully present in our surroundings.
As we enter this silence and solitude, we develop a stronger and deeper sense of self apart from outside voices of media as well as the opinions of others. We experience restoration and even empowerment by creating this intentional and uninterrupted space for ourselves.
Artist Bio
Cece was born and raised in Hong Kong, spent her high school and university years in Calgary, and relocated to Vancouver in 2011, where she has lived and worked in for the past twelve years. She has had a varied career that includes practicing law when she first graduated and working in marketing and communications. Throughout her childhood and into her working years, she has always been drawn to art and would enroll in art, architecture and design classes whenever the opportunity arose, taking evening art classes during her time as a lawyer, studying interior design as she was transitioning away from law and even spending two months in New York’s Pratt Institute taking an architecture course.
During the pandemic and its accompanying change and challenges, she began abstract painting as a creative outlet and a means of seeking calm and healing during a time of uncertainty. She works primarily with acrylics and mixed media on canvas and has grown significantly in her use of scale when painting. Her recent large scale work includes paintings in sizes up to 5’ x 8’, all of which are private commissions.
She currently lives in Vancouver and paints in her studio located in the East Vancouver art district. Her work focuses on high flowing abstract intuitive paintings that reflect her ongoing creative and personal journey.
Join us on Saturday, May 6th from 4pm to 6pm for the Opening Event. RSVP here.
