Jennifer Chen is a Taiwanese artist based in the Netherlands. Her practice moves between Chinese ink painting, calligraphy, paper cutting and works on paper, often drawing on everyday encounters, relationships, language and the small moments through which people connect with one another.

Rather than treating traditional East Asian materials and techniques as fixed forms, she approaches them playfully and intuitively. Fish, cats, plants, fruit, people, Chinese characters and ordinary objects repeatedly enter her work. Through minimalism brushstrokes, open space and simplified forms, she is interested in how a very small image can still contain movement, emotion and a story.

Two Fish belongs to her ongoing exploration of pairs and relationships. Two fish swim freely around one another: connected, but not confined. The work reflects an idea that recurs throughout her practice—that closeness and individuality, attachment and freedom, can coexist. Another important strand of Jennifer’s art practice is Encounters, an ongoing series of calligraphic portraits inspired by friends, colleagues and people she meets. For each encounter, she selects a Chinese character or phrase that reflects something she perceives in that person or in the relationship between them. Many of these works are subsequently given to the people who inspired them, allowing the artwork to continue its life outside the artist’s possession.

Chen’s paper-cut work was selected for the Mauritshuis open-call exhibition #MyGirlWithAPearl in 2023 and subsequently became part of the related group project at Fabrique des Lumières in Amsterdam in 2024. Her work has since appeared in exhibitions, art markets and community spaces in the Netherlands, including Kunstmarkt Amstelveen, the outdoor exhibition at De Lading, and Platform C’s Een Kastje Vol Geluk, where she was a featured artist. In 2026, her fan paintings were presented in exhibitions at De Meent, Wijkcentrum Alleman, Ontmoetingscentrum Kastanjehof and Villa Randwijck.

Alongside exhibiting, Chen enjoys circulating art outside conventional gallery settings—through gifts, community exhibitions, markets, printed cards and encounters with people who may not normally enter an art space. This accessibility is an important part of her practice: art, for her, can be serious without becoming distant, and meaningful without losing its sense of joy.

Links

Her website:
https://www.jccareers.co/art/projects

Kunstwerkt artist profile:
https://www.kunstwerkt.be/nl/jennifer-chen

Instagram@cutenoter