Kuan-Yu Chou (Cathy Chou)

Where do you live: London.
Your education: MA Art and Science, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, 2024.
Describe your art in three words: Me, Myself, I.
Your discipline: Petition refines expression.
Website | Instagram

Can you share with us the inspiration behind your current body of work? How does your experience with illness shape your artistic expression?

The inspiration for my work largely comes from my personal feelings and life experiences. Recently, a close friend passed away due to cancer, which has been a significant trigger for me. It brought forth emotions and states that are difficult to describe in words, leading to deep reflections on life. When certain feelings or states are hard to articulate, I often turn to my creative practice to record and engage with them. My art has always been a form of self-dialogue and a record of my emotional state. My experiences with illness have constantly influenced my physical condition, perception of the world, my connection to it, and my sense of self. Each illness forces me to reexamine my existence, my relationships with the world and others, and these reflections inevitably tie into my artistic process. From the colors and materials used in my work to the sense of time that illness brings, and how different illnesses affect my perception of the world, they all shape the way I express myself through different mediums and visual language.

In your artist statement, you mention turning private emotions into shared experiences. Could you elaborate on how you achieve this through your paintings, performance, and video art?

Many of the feelings or states I explore are universal experiences that reappear in various stages of life. These experiences, though personal, are universal emotions that reappear at different stages of life. For example, welcoming a new life, witnessing aging, encountering death, losing loved ones, these are personal feelings but also universal challenges everyone faces. Through different media and forms, I transform my personal experiences into something universal and shared. These mediums allow me to break through personal boundaries and present my inner emotions in a way that resonates with the viewer. Through these forms of expression, I can convey my private emotions and experiences in an artistic way, enabling the audience to see themselves reflected in my work and connect with their own emotions. In this way, I invite the viewer not just to observe, but to feel a sense of shared experience.

How do you see the relationship between your emotional experiences and the physicality of your paintings? How do you incorporate the body into your work?

I view my body as a medium, through my physical senses and emotions, I experience the world and create. Emotion has always been an essential element in my work; it serves as a catalyst, my instinct, and something intrinsic to being human, whether it’s feelings of frustration, anger, passion, or tranquility. These emotions influence the energy, texture, and brushstrokes in my artwork. In other words, my emotional experiences are embodied through the materiality of my paintings, such as brushwork and texture, expressing the intensity or subtlety of these feelings. The body’s role in my work is especially important, as it is both the container for emotional expression and the medium of the creative process. Whether intentional or impulsive, every movement of the body is an extension of the emotion. I incorporate the body into my work to create a visceral experience for the viewer, inviting them to not only perceive the visual aspects but also feel the emotional and physical intensity that went into the creation process. My work becomes an invitation for the viewer to join me in this dance of creation.

You describe art as a form of faith. Can you explain what this means to you and how it influences your creative process?

Art, for me, is a form of faith, deeply rooted in my experiences with illness. Through countless struggles with illness, I’ve often felt despair and helplessness, and each time, art has been the force that pulls me back. For me, art is not just a way of expression or a tool, but the very essence of my life. It supports me, guides me, and challenges me, it exists in a tangible form within my life, offering comfort and space for me to ask questions or find answers. Art is my lover, my friend, my family, my refuge. It also allows me to connect with the world and others on a spiritual level, creating emotional and intellectual connections between people. Art, therefore, is not only a personal expression but a shared experience with the audience. This faith in art gives me a place to rest, to express those chaotic, ambiguous, and uncertain states, and helps me believe that every act of creation leads to a deeper understanding of myself. Even in the face of uncertainty and challenges in the creative process, art gives me the strength to keep going.

Your works often engage with themes of suffering and survival. How do you maintain a sense of hope in your art while exploring such heavy subjects?

Perhaps this is why I continue to create—life presents so many challenges, so much suffering, but also so much beauty. There are moments when survival is all we can focus on. When exploring suffering and survival, I don’t see them as purely negative experiences, but as unavoidable aspects of life. These heavy themes often reflect the inner struggles and pain, but they also reveal the fragility and resilience of human life. As I mentioned before, art is my faith, it saves me time and time again. During these difficult times, I believe art continues to support and accompany me. In every act of creation, art teaches me how to rediscover my passion for life, to find strength again to keep living, and to see the beauty in the world that might otherwise be overlooked. This becomes part of the exploration, not the endpoint. Hope is not about escaping suffering, but presenting the complexities of life truthfully. I also feel a kind of mission to address these heavy themes because I know not everyone is willing to face them. I want to create works that speak to this era and reflect these topics; I believe this is powerful and worth leaving behind.

Can you talk about the role of color in your work? How does it relate to the emotions or experiences you’re exploring in your pieces?

For me, color is very intuitive. It may represent the layers and subtle changes of my inner world, deeply connected to the experiences and emotions I explore in my work. But more than that, it’s an unknown dialogue and emotional tension, it’s like dancing with a partner whose face is hidden. We’re still in the process of getting to know each other, but each conversation sparks more exploration and experiments. Perhaps I cannot yet fully articulate what that is, but I believe the intensity and depth of color help me express the level of emotional energy, from its most intense moments to its subtle shifts. This allows the viewer to feel the internal fluctuations of my emotions. Color, in this way, helps to communicate those emotional states and brings the viewer into a more intimate connection with the work.

Your exhibitions have spanned multiple countries. How do you feel your work is received in different cultural contexts? Are there differences in the way your themes of illness and vulnerability are interpreted?

I’ve noticed that audiences from different cultural backgrounds respond to my work in unique ways, associating it with different imagery. Some have shared with me that certain visuals in my work remind them of war, landscapes from various places, natural sceneries, or even specific figures I had never considered, sometimes even animals. These responses are fascinating, revealing not just cultural differences but also the influence of individual life experiences and professional backgrounds.

I believe that each viewer sees something different, and their associations and level of acceptance vary accordingly. However, when it comes to themes of illness and vulnerability, I think these are universal human experiences that transcend cultural boundaries. They evoke a fundamental emotional resonance. In some places, audiences interpret my work in a deeply personal way, connecting it to their own experiences with the body, pain, or loss. Regardless of cultural differences, people seem to recognize vulnerability as an intrinsic part of the human condition. Even if the ways of interpretation differ, the emotional core of the work remains intact, allowing it to resonate across cultures.

Additionally, some viewers have drawn connections between my work and traditional Chinese landscape painting, though my intention is not to create landscapes. Others have associated certain elements with feminine presence or experience, which adds another layer of interpretation.