Vincent Chen is a Melbourne-based artist whose work is inspired by his travels and the places he encounters along the way. He is drawn to both the tranquillity of nature and the energy of bustling cityscapes. Through his paintings, Vincent often introduces whimsical animal characters into these environments, creating playful scenes that tell imaginative and engaging stories.
Artist Statement:
Forever Spring is a series of gouache paintings featuring blooming cherry blossoms, tranquil snow-capped mountains, and playful animal characters.
Through this body of work I hope to capture the romance, sweetness, joy, and vibrant energy of spring - one of the most beautiful seasons in nature. The landscapes and cultural elements depicted throughout the series are largely inspired by my travels through Japan, New Zealand, and Uzbekistan between 2024 and 2025.
A major inspiration for this exhibition came from my travels through Japan in the spring of 2025, when I experienced the cherry blossom season there for the first time. Across the country, cherry trees were in full bloom, while locals and visitors from around the world gathered in streets, parks, and neighbourhoods to enjoy the fleeting beauty of the blossoms. It felt as though nature itself was putting on a spectacular visual celebration. Experiencing this for the first time left a lasting impression on me.
Through Forever Spring, I wanted to revisit and preserve the joy of that journey, while sharing some of the beauty and wonder I experienced during cherry blossom season. At the heart of the exhibition is a sense of life awakening—the movement, energy, and vitality that emerge as nature comes into bloom. I hope these paintings allow viewers to experience that same feeling of joy, renewal, and appreciation for the gifts of nature, here in Melbourne during spring.
Vincent's exhibition Forever Spring runs at Outré Fitzroy from 30 October - 22 November.
Interview by Luke Dawson. Images supplied by Vincent Chen.
What can we expect from your show? What are the themes for this exhibition?
The audience can expect a celebration of the vibrant energy and joy of spring. Through whimsical animal characters, I wanted to capture the excitement I experienced during Japan’s cherry blossom season. Alongside cherry blossoms, the works feature snow-capped mountains, lakes and blue skies, as well as elements inspired by Japanese folklore and my recent travels through Uzbekistan.
Colour is also an important part of this show. Compared with my previous work, I’ve taken a bolder and more colourful approach, spending a lot of time finding the right combinations and balance. I hope the works feel playful, uplifting and full of life - much like spring itself.
Your work explores a whimsical cast of characters traversing urban and natural environments. How do you conceptualise these scenes and characters? How do you progress from a sketch to a final artwork?
My ideas usually begin with a background - a landscape or place that I’ve come across during my travels and photographed. From there, I start imagining what kind of story could take place within that scene. The ideas can come from books I’ve read, animations I’ve watched, or sometimes they’re completely random.
For the process, I usually complete the background first, then sketch each character individually in my sketchbook. I photograph the sketches and combine them with the background digitally on my iPad, which helps me work out the scale and placement of each character before painting them in. It’s actually a little trick I learnt at university, almost like working with traditional cel animation.
There's a distinct narrative quality to your paintings, and this body of work in particular - can you share any stories behind the artworks in this show, such as the 'Migration' pieces?
Created intuitively rather than in sequence, these three paintings form one continuous story, unfolding in the order Migration V → Migration III → Migration IV.
In 'Migration V', travellers from a desert kingdom journey through a magical portal to Forever Spring, seeking a magician whose enchanted petal can bring spring to any land.
'Migration III' follows their journey home with the precious petal, accompanied by residents of Forever Spring carrying magical gifts to help transform the desert. By 'Migration IV', the once-barren kingdom has become lush and green. The residents of Forever Spring then return through the portal to visit their friends and celebrate the arrival of spring together.
The child with a faded pink cap, amongst others, appears in multiple of your works. Is there a backstory to these characters?
The little boy actually started as a way to show the scale of the landscapes in my paintings. At first, he was simply a small figure placed within these vast natural environments to give the viewer a sense of their size.
He originally wore a blue cap, but I felt the blue blended in too much with the greens of the landscape, so I changed it to a more playful pink. Over time, his appearance became more defined, and he gradually developed into a recurring character in my work. What began as a simple scale indicator has now become a familiar little traveller, exploring the different worlds and landscapes I create.
Each of your works captures a soft ambient feeling of light which is both inviting and intriguing. Can you tell us a bit about the influences that developed your visual style?
Thank you! One of my favourite artists is Katsushika Ōi, the daughter of Hokusai. I’ve always been fascinated by the way she used light in her ukiyo-e works, particularly the dramatic contrast between light and shadow. Her work has had a strong influence on the way I think about lighting in my own paintings.
I especially enjoy painting bright, clear daytime scenes, as well as night scenes with dramatic and impactful lighting. For me, light is an important part of creating the atmosphere and mood of a scene.
You have visited Japan and Uzbekistan - how have these overseas adventures influenced your process? Was there anything unusual or surprising that emerged from these travels?
One of my favourite things to do when I travel is to spend hours wandering through local museums and galleries. In both Japan and Uzbekistan, I came across some incredibly small yet highly detailed paintings, which really surprised and inspired me. I used to prefer working on larger pieces because they gave me more space for detail, but these experiences encouraged me to start creating much smaller works with the same level of intricacy.
In Uzbekistan, I was particularly inspired by the tradition of miniature painting and its beautiful decorative elements. I’ve incorporated some of these influences into a few works in Forever Spring, and it’s a direction I really enjoy and would love to explore further in the future.
Have you always been creative? What are some of your earliest memories of making art, or early creative influences?
I think so! My earliest memory of making art was when I was about four or five. I saw a cute illustration of a bumblebee in a magazine and decided to copy it with some coloured pencils. It was during a family gathering, and I remember feeling so happy when everyone praised my drawing. I think that was when I first realised how much I loved drawing—and I’ve never really stopped since. So I guess it all started with that little bumblebee!
How do you start your day in the studio? What habits or rituals get you into the creative mode and what keeps you focused over long stretches of your creative practice?
I usually start my day by doing something completely unrelated to art - going for a walk in the park, tidying the house, or watching something random on YouTube. Before I begin painting, I’ll sit quietly and look at the work for about 10–15 minutes. It’s almost like a mental rehearsal - I visualise the next steps, anticipate any difficult areas, and think through how I might approach them. I find this really helps the whole painting process flow more naturally once I begin.
For longer painting sessions, I actually prefer complete silence - I don’t listen to music, songs, or anything in the background while I work. I find that silence helps me concentrate and become completely absorbed in the painting. I usually set myself a small goal for the next two hours, which gives me something clear to work towards and keeps me focused.
It's wonderful watching videos of you peel the tape away from the edge of your freshly painted gouache artwork. How is gouache used in your creative practice? What other mediums and tools do you find essential in your studio?
Thank you! I love gouache because it allows me to cover previous layers and correct mistakes. More recently, I’ve realised that one of the most important parts of working with gouache is controlling the amount of water. For backgrounds, I use more water to create softer, more diluted layers. As I move towards the foreground, I use very little water and keep the gouache creamy and opaque, which allows me to build up much finer details.
Coloured pencils are also essential for sketching, and a slightly more unusual tool I use is a small airbrush kit I bought in Japan. It’s not designed for extremely detailed airbrushing, but it’s perfect for creating gradient lighting and the soft outer glow around some of the portals in my paintings.
Finally, what book, podcast, music or media would you recommend to our readers and Outré staff?
I’d recommend The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence, Museum of Islamic Art: The Guide, Kyōsai’s World, and Noji Mikiko. These are four books I’ve found myself returning to again and again over the past two years while working on my paintings. They cover very different styles and cultures, but I often look through them for inspiration, particularly for colour, composition, decorative details and storytelling.
Thanks for chatting with us, Vincent! See you at the show!
