Chloe Chen

About the artist

Chloe Chen is an 18-year-old Chinese artist and model who has recently been bewitching the fashion industry with her surreal illustrations and captivating photo shoots. Collaborating with brands like Balenciaga, Issey Miyake, and Moleskine, she has explored complex themes related to the anxiety, fear, and horror that can arise while navigating adolescence and learning to settle into your own skin. 

At first glance, her illustrations capture your attention with their fluid linework and striking compositions, but they keep you looking because they contain a feeling of deeper mystery that calls out to you. You can find this same mysterious depth in Chloe’s eyes when she is modeling. Her eyes carry wisdom beyond her years, much like the eyes of the owl archetype that has appeared in many of her recent illustrations. But along with that wisdom, you will also find a look of rebellion, longing, and a glimmer of the little girl who is still afraid of the unknown. The secrets hidden in her eyes, fashion, and art dare you to stop and get lost in her world. 

Chloe Chen is drawn to creating similarly psychological work because it helps her to understand her inner self while developing her outer persona and style. To her, just as the inner and outer self is connected, so are art and fashion. She believes that continuing to explore the connection between these two forms of self-expression is crucial to her creative process and personal growth. 

Chloe begins her studies in illustration, design, and stop-motion animation at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in the fall of 2023. Meanwhile, her journey of self-exploration through art and fashion is already leading to more industry collaborations and a rapidly growing online following.

Artwork Themes & Subject Matter

Chloe Chen’s aesthetic is influenced by the years she spent studying in Japan and the wild psychological horror manga she discovered there. Her colorful, modern, manga-leaning style is infused with feelings of anxiety, fear, and horror, and is influenced by old Japanese horror comic artists Kazuo Umezu, Shintaro Kago, and Suehiro Maruo. Her art reflects her worldview as a teenager and artist in the 21st century, mixing beautiful and ugly, bizarre and real, and opposing forces and concepts that coexist in her work.

Press

Chloe Chen’s work has been published in various publications and websites including: Vogue China, Marie Claire, Elle China, Redx Magazine, Bazaar Vietnam, ArtCollectors’, Tokyo Weekender, Vanity Teen and so on.

Upcoming Exhibitions

CV

Education

See also

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PAINTINGFIGURATIVE ARTOILPORTRAITURESURREAL ART

Alex Garant

2023 Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2023

Nowhere, SOMOSC Gallery, Tokyo, Japan