Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gigi Chen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Gigi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

I met artist Kathleen Gilje during my freshman year of School of Visual Arts. She was taking over my first year Studio Drawing class from another teacher who was taking a break. It happened to be that Kathy was looking for an assistant and she invited me to visit her art studio. I was 18 years old at the time and did not even know what that meant. My major at SVA was in Traditional Animation and I was setting my sights on animation internships and possibly a stable studio job when I finished school. But all the while, I was passionate about making paintings. In between grueling animation homework, I would hole up in my parent’s basement and create large artworks for myself. I would set up still lifes on my desk and spend hours making elaborate drawings.

Visiting Kathy’s studio was a revelation. Her paintings were completely based in art history, old master techniques, and her former life as an art conservator in Italy. It was everything I wanted to learn. And very importantly, Kathy was a mature woman who already had full grown kids who are about my age and a long term marriage to another artist, Robert Lobe. She had also by then lived through several decades of an art career and experienced great changes in the art world, including the exclusion and then the inclusion of more female artists.

I was absolutely terrified the first time she had me work on a painting. It was a large-scale piece and she set me up to do the underpainting of an obscenely elaborate bed post. She squeezed out the paint and made a palette for me. Then she left to run an errand. It was my first time alone in her studio and I was super panicked. I had very little experience with oil paint before then and I just thought, “Oh f*ck. She is going to fire me.” But to my and her surprise, I did really well. She looked over what I did and asked, “Did you know you could do that?” I did not.

I left college and completely abandoned my dream of becoming an animator. It was 2004 and the animation industry was about to go full digital. Working as an artist’s assistant (I also worked with 3 other painters, sometimes going from one studio to the other in a day.) made me realize that I did not want to be working full time in front of a computer. And I loved painting. I have always loved painting.

It has been over 20 years, and I still work with Kathy a couple days a week. Sometimes more. Sometimes less. Over the years, she taught me everything about painting technique. I continue to set up each piece for her by getting through the underpainting. Kathy has always worked fully on her own paintings. My handiwork is just the base and disappears as she works tirelessly on each piece to completion. An added bonus was it allowed me to see how a professional artist handled galleries and stayed in touch with clients. Seeing Kathy’s work ethic allowed me to see that while being a full time painter may be complicated, it can be possible. It has since become my whole life.

Gigi, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My biggest influence these days is Love and Nature. I grew up in Queens, NY with the J train rumbling nearby on Jamaica Ave. My family and I arrived in New York from Guangdong China when I was 8 months old. My parents were in their early 20’s, trying to figure out how to raise three daughters with limited English language skills in a loud urban city in a brand new country. There was not a lot of time to figure out how to find hiking trails. My parents did not even know what that meant. My biggest exposure to nature was walking around Forest Park, a large green space near where I grew up.

As an adult, I met friends who pushed me to be more comfortable being away from the city. Now I lust after nature and all that it offers. As a full time artist, one of my greatest challenges is keeping focus. My intense squirrel energy can keep me from sitting still and I found long hikes in the woods and even hours-long traverses through Central Park to be soothing.

Nature is pure magic and I create work channeling that wonder, notably casting birds as the main characters who tell my stories. Birds to me are so fascinating. They are a huge species in which every type of bird looks different and each performs their own way of life. I became an avid birder in 2020. I am what is referred to as a “Pandemic Birder” because I picked up the activity when the city was shut down and outdoor activities were the best option. There are endless things to learn including their migration patterns and nesting habits.

My favorite series that I have ever done is called “Light My Way Home.” It touches upon my complex feelings about Family, Belonging, Safety and Love. With these works, I reached into the world of Magical Realism and dove into the interconnection of the natural and the unnatural. The dreamlike imagery of mossy trees, neon houses, wooden structures, and string lights suggest the levity of family and relationships that simultaneously can feel magical and perhaps unattainable in my search for the Ideal of Home.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

There can be something of a romance when non-creatives think about artists. There is a myth that we are dreamy weirdos on the fringe of society. (My parents used to call me “slightly tilted.”) Some of these things are true. But really, artists are some of the most capable people I know. You have to be functional in order to get things done on your own, independent of a steady outside employer.

I actually have a degree in commercial art, Traditional Animation from the School of Visual Arts. As a kid, I dreamt of becoming an animator for Disney and drawing Mickey Mouse. My family and I are immigrants from China and my mom was very worried that I would be the stereotypical “Starving Artist”. She was veeeery happy that I was going to school to become a commercial artist. The problem was that the reality of being an animator was not like the romantic vision I had as a kid. The grind of animation school was grueling and I felt no joy after handing in my assignments. Also, it was 2004 and everything was about to become digital and I really did not want to sit in front of a computer for the rest of my life.

Even though I never entered the business, Animation school taught me how to set deadlines and to sit quietly alone for hours creating artwork. I actually have not worked a full time job since I was 27 years old. (I am 41 years old now.) Even then, my jobs were always as a full time/part time artists assistant or some other freelance art work.

I had to train myself to make Art my actual JOB. Art is a full time business. I post artwork for sale, make prints, sometimes teach an art class, write for art publications, send emails telling people about my up-coming art shows, and occasionally do online interviews. *wink* I do it everyday and try my best not to forget things. I also take on freelance work like painting commissions, mural jobs and assist an artist twice a week. In fact, It’s a lucky day when I get to just paint in my art studio uninterrupted.

Aside from the intense self discipline, (“Oh, I could never sit there for hours like that.”, many have said to me as they scrolled endlessly on their phones.) I suppose the thing that freaks people out the most is the unpredictability. Everyday is different with new challenges and sometimes you don’t know when or if you will get paid for what you work so hard on. Like any job, it is all a trade-off. A steady job means you work a certain number of hours for predictable money rewards. For me, I prefer TIME. I get to use my time to work on projects that I am passionate about or just to make some extra cash. If I am lucky, both all at once. TIME is mine to use wisely or squander but at the very least, that time belongs to me.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I used to think that Art would be my Whole Life. That the way to thrive was to give EVERYTHING to being an Artist. I attended commercial art school, so when I entered into the Fine Art Gallery world in my early 20’s, it was like I was playing catch-up. I felt compelled to learn “art speak” and paint and draw every single day. There were art openings, museum shows, hanging out with other fine artists, and subscribing to all the art magazines. All or Nothing. All of the Time. I was self indulgent and exhausting. I was also insecure and terrified.

Then in 2009, my mother was diagnosed with a rare cancer. My family is wonderful but I was not made aware of how sick she was until a few months before she passed. I visited as much as I could even when I did not know the full story and we made a lot of peace between us. But I knew I could have made more time to be with her, no matter how difficult it was to see her grow more ill and more frail. My mother was only 50 when she passed.

Death is permanent. Death changes everything.

I took a hard break from the frenzied Art Life for a while and reconnected with family and the friends I made before I yearned to be a hot Art Star. We all grieved together and they reminded me of the values that I was raised with. My family and I came to the USA when I was 8 months old from Guangdong, China. My immigrant parents bought a house in Queens, NY and raised three crazy girls in a new country, with bare minimum English language skills. My parents worked tirelessly to create a life for us. My two sisters and I went to college and created independent lives. I became a painter. The American Dream!

My mother’s death changed my perspective on pretty much everything and Everything became sad for a very long time. Every song felt asinine. (The Black Eyed Peas “I Gotta Feeling” was CONSTANTLY blasting from car radios. I still dislike that song to this day.) Food tasted awful, outside noises bothered me and I hated Art. I hated Art for months. Sitting in the cab leaving the hospice at Elmhurst Hospital in Queens at dawn (my mom died at 5:30 am), I clearly remember thinking “I am going to quit art and join the Peace Corp. ”

Clearly, I did not quit art. I also never joined the Peace Corp. (I am not a saint.) I was 27 when Mom passed and recently going into my 40’s made me think a lot about her and how young she really was when she died. Like any immigrant kid, we have a complicated relationship with our parents. There is always this struggle of Old World versus New World. Values come up again and again. What is important and what do we feel compelled to make important?

Art is no longer my Everything. It is still the biggest part of my life and I depend on it for my financial and spiritual survival. But I also make time for other things like taking meandering walks in the woods and being with my loved ones as much as possible. I let myself enjoy long mornings with my camera chasing birds in the Spring. I breathe deeply and I allow myself to skip the next popular art opening.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gigichen.com
• Instagram: @gigichen.art
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gigi.chen.art/
• Linktree: https://linktr.ee/gigichen

Image Credits
Photo of me : Argenis Apolinario