J. Yuen Ling Chiu | Plate No. 8, 2022

Etching

50 x 50 cm

Edition of 3

J Yuen Ling Chiu’s work investigates the relationships between migration, urban landscapes, and empire. Her practice shifts between themes, underpinned by formal research of lower toxicity, more sustainable printmaking methods and materials. She takes inspiration from her daily commute, by bike and foot, along the river Thames to her studio in Woolwich. From the plant life bursting between pavement cracks, to the mass population of pigeons squatting aboard the Royal Iris, an abandoned Mersey ferry moored outside her studio, the last three years have been a study in the passage of time, and our relationship with our immediate surroundings. Her ‘Improvisation’ series is developed from a library of plates that will never be retired. Chiu layers deeply etched plant matter with fleeting passes of screenprinting to create lyrical landscapes, often composed on the press. Chiu graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art with an MFA in 2007, and is currently Artist-in-Residence at Thames-side Print Studio. She has exhibited in the UK, Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands.