The GrowlersWorld Interviews

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The GrowlersWorld Interviews are an ongoing quest, bringing you closer to successful and creative people in all walks of life.

Rawle Austin presents...

A conversation with Suki Chan - Building an Artistic Legacy!

Suki Chan is an amazingly talented artist whose work has taken her all over the globe. She created the phenomenal Story of Rice exhibitions which have garnered widespread acclaim. I spoke to her to find out some of the secrets of her success.

Rawle Austin: Could you introduce yourself to GrowlersWorld readers?

Suki Chan: I’m an artist based in London and Manchester. I was born in Hong Kong and have lived in England since a young age.

RA: When did you discover you had a passion for art?

SC: I liked art from primary school, but then again I also liked a lot of different subjects at school. I remember I truanted with some friends once, but then got bored and so we went back to school.

I guess, I don’t feel that I have just a passion for art. I’m interested in many things and art is a platform to explore them.

RA: How did you develop your amazing talents?

SC: Well, I went to art school but it’s the time after my degree that I started to develop my practice. Doing shows, residencies and research both here in the UK and abroad has been an integral part of my development.

RA: How would you describe your form of art?

SC: I’m interested in light and shadows. My work is about space and form. I explore the way we perceive light and shadows and also the way we perceive and experience time.

Memory plays a part in my work and so far my research has taken place in Hong Kong and mainland China.

RA: Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

SC: My starting point is often a space or building, or my interaction with a particular place. I try to work out my feelings about it and what I want to convey with the work and then look at the media and materials to best convey this.

I have a fascination for light and shadows so often the work will utilizes light in some way. For me, each type of light has a different association and I try to work with this together with the space.

I’ve worked with ordinary lights - with bare bulbs, spot-lights, strip lights, chandeliers, neon lights as well as video and film projections.

RA: What do you enjoy most about creating a piece of art from scratch?

SC: It’s the not knowing, although that’s also the most difficult thing too. I enjoy the journey in pursuit of an idea. It becomes an obsession sometimes.

I enjoy unraveling the puzzle. How do I do this? Create this effect? What happens if I use this material, etc. The possibilities are endless and it is this selection process - this decision making that is both hard and fascinating.

At some point the work begins to have a life of it’s own, it has a physical presence and stares back at you. It can be surprising as it may not do what you originally intended and sometimes it excels your expectations.

RA: Who are your favourite artists and why?

SC: I love the work of Richard Wilson and Tomoko Takahashi. I think they’re crazy – Wilson for his interventions into a space, Tomoko for the obsession with everyday clutter.

RA: Your art exhibitions take you all around the world. What has been your most memorable experience, whilst on tour, to date?

SC: They’ve all been an incredible experience. Setting up the latest Story of Rice in Spain last year in a former petrol tank was an incredible experience.

Also, filming for Interval 2 last year in Fujian were particularly memorable. The roundhouse at night is like an observatory and we captured the stars moving across the immense sky. You feel very small at this point in the grand scheme of things.

I love that experience. And then, there are the people that you meet on the way, on the trains, planes and people who you work with. I find they are the hardest to leave behind.

RA: What are you working on at the moment?

SC: My film, Interval 2.

RA: What advice would you give aspiring artists who seek to follow in your footsteps and emulate your success?

SC: Be tough. Have self-belief, be determined, but also listen… to yourself, your instincts and also the advice from others.

RA: Who inspires you most in life and why?

SC:This changes on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes, my friends, sometimes, other artists, directors of films and sometimes animals and even inanimate objects!

RA: How do you keep yourself motivated to achieve your goals?

SC: I take a break and then come back to it. Taking up a sport or a dance is good too.

RA: What are your ultimate ambitions for your art? Where would you like to see it take you?

SC: I’d like it to take me somewhere further than my expectations – beyond me. I love working with others and that’s always such a good way of going beyond yourself and beyond our own limits.

RA: And finally, what words of wisdom would you like to leave us with?

SC: Sleep early and wake up early to see the light in the morning.

Find out more about Suki Chan's artwork on her website, here!

Images copyright © Suki Chan

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