Meet El Chen | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with El Chen and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi El, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I don’t quite know what I’m pursuing just yet. The idea of a career – a series of steps of development that makes some kind of logical sense – is becoming more of a myth to me as days progress (don’t get me wrong, I somewhat envy my loved ones who enjoy plotting and pursuing theirs. I have just yet to be able to find joy in it myself, and so I’ve stopped trying.).

I once heard one of my favorite poem Mark Nepo talk about him being asked how he was going to make a living and responded, “I’m going to live a making.” Somehow I have turned my life into a creative endeavor one decision at a time, and I suppose some through lines I have found through most of these decisions are that they point me towards the unknown. As painstakingly long as it often takes to get through the “what have I just done” period every time I take step into a blank space, I still think it is as good as it gets that I get to “live a making,” one that is guided by my own intuition.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I love thinking about my art as creating enlivening suprises. What I have and will always hold dear about my art is how it lets me be surpirsed and surprising in ways that makes me excited about living. It’s one of my biggest sources of pride as an artist that I get to spark aliveness within people, a feeling of “this is what living could feel like?” It might sound grandiose, but I see these sparks in the tiniest moments – when we walk on the street and see something that stop us in our tracks, when we utter out a word that take all the courage to say, when we hear a song and find our bodies naturally soften and become fluid…And I know, at least for me, that these surprises are vital for my wellbeing.

I’ve learned to not put boundaries on genres for my work, partly because I have an unshakeable need for my work to speak to me first and foremost. On days when I delight in creating surprises in my own little world, I roam in painting, dance, and making music. My inner child roams free in these realms, and I’m actively learning to eliminate any expectation of having some sort of end product to show when I engage in these media. That is when my instincts feel the most free to come out and play, and I get surprised a lot more that way by my own choice making when the choices are just for me.

On days when I want to make surprises with the world around me, I turn to making public art and coaching improv. I want my work to build towards a world where art is nothing more complicated than intentional acts of love, no matter the size, format, level of expertise…and where everyone deeply connects with, and acts on, their need to give and receive this love. One of my current project is Dear You Letters, where I write letters of endearment and leave them in public spaces. Sometimes I’d stick around after dropping off the letter to witness the moment when a 4×6 envelope gets a person to look up from their phone, bend down and pick up an object, and immerse in intrigue. Most of us don’t go about our days asking out loud, “is anyone thinking of me? Will something make me come alive today? Will I do anything that makes a difference to anyone?” But I’d suspect a lot of us do ask these questions silently, maybe even unknowingly, every day. And there’s something about being able to answer a loud “YES” to quiet questions with my art that makes me smile.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I’m city-bound, I’d serve up city gal El, I like her a lot, and she would drag any and all visitors to a fantastic bar (the Goring), one or five cut throat dance class ( Pineapple Dance Studios), and all the galleries she can find.

That said, I’m about to move into the woods, and I’ve found myself gravitating towards nature so much that it feels like the opposite of retreat when I’m away from hustling towns. If anything, I feel more alive, interested, and excited being on a field or amongst the trees. If/when my best friend comes visit, it’d be a week of us cooking together, singing and doodling by the fire at night, hiking trips galore, and even more time laying on the grass doing nothing.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Irondale Ensemble Project in New York City. I think for artists, one of the best fortune we could have is to find a place that feel like home, that holds all our quirks and somehow have just the right environment to embrace and amplify them all. Irondale was that place for me.

Website: elchen.net

Instagram: @hope.elchen

Image Credits
Image of me performing on stage: photo by Jeffrey Su