Crystal Chan Wai Man

Visual Arts

Crystal Chan Wai Man is a painter and multimedia artist born and raised in Portuguese Macau. She graduated from the School of Visual Arts in New York and is currently pursuing her master’s degree at Purchase College, State University of New York.

As a painter, she combines unsettling and indistinct scenery that reflect feelings of displacement and estrangement. In her paintings, isolated figures and desolate landscapes are drawn with an expressive line and brushstrokes, carrying lingering emotions of sadness, anger, and helplessness. She tries to imply the same sentiments in her multimedia and sound work.

She has been involved in photography, writing and acting. Her article “Inshala” received the 4th prize at the Hong Kong City Literary Festival 2008. “Something About”, a photography book published in 2012, results from a working partnership with local photographer Wong Kei Cheong. Portrait drawing has been, however, her favorite when it comes to artworks. In her opinion, the face, the body and the expression are channels from which we pour out our emotions; and emotions are just something straightforward, honest and innocent.

Exhibitions

“Four Seasons” 20th Anniversary Members Collective Exhibition

28th August — 29th September, 2023

It’s a great pleasure to celebrate two decades of intense artistic and cultural activity with the creative community, which began on the 28th of August 2003 with the mission of welcoming established professionals and new talents seeking recognition. We thank all associated members for their collaboration with thoughtful support since they willingly accept our invitations […]

Mountain Surrounded by Sea – sound and art installation by Crystal W.M. Chan and Benjamin K. Hodges

19th May — 6th June, 2020

Land and sea are locked in a perpetual battle. Again and again, waves try and fail to make it on land. Erosion takes some back to the sea, beating up rocks, shells and everything else caught up in it, with sand the first casualty of this ongoing war. It is worn down, buried and slowly […]

“Symbols In Cultures” 11th anniversary group exhibition

28th August — 13th September, 2014

SYMBOLS IN CULTURES Everywhere we look in societies are forms of symbolic representation, which identify and illustrate different culture, philosophy, and lifestyle. Thinking that symbols in society are unconscious forms of communication in the way of social, ideological, political concepts and many others, they are important and integral elements in understanding a culture and a […]