Cong Chen
(She/Her)
Cong Chen (born 2001, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China) primarily works with painting. His practice explores how individuals in contemporary society are continuously shaped by consumer culture, visual information, and collective relationships.
His work examines desire, identity, and consumer symbols, as well as the spread of herd mentality, collective behaviour, and individual consciousness within social environments. His recent practice has shifted towards the interdependent relationship between the individual and society, using concepts from psychology to connect experiences of nature with memory, information, and inner consciousness.
Chen observes how people continually seek a balance between coexistence and individuality: how individuals are shaped by relationships and social structures, and how personal emotions, memories, and a sense of existence can be retained within interconnected environments. Identity is not understood as a fixed state, but as an ongoing process of formation and adjustment, influenced by desire, collective consciousness, social relationships, and the need for belonging.
A Place Within
Cong Chen
Chinese, born 2001
A Place Within
2026
Oil on canvas
76.2 × 101.6 cm
Inspired by landscapes encountered during hiking, the work transforms nature into a psychological space. Questions of identity, desire, belonging, and social expectations intertwine with memory and inner conflict, reflecting on the ways in which individuals seek to locate themselves within society.
A Place Within, 2026 Oil on canvas, 76.2 × 101.6 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
Diffusion
Cong Chen
Chinese, born 2001
Diffusion
2026
Acrylic and oil on canvas
60 × 40 cm
My recent research explores how individuals enter into and adapt to social structures. As desire and collective influence flow between people, the boundaries between the self and the group become increasingly blurred. A sense of belonging creates connection, while simultaneously accumulating and shaping one’s sense of identity.
2026 Acrylic and oil on canvas 60 × 40 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
Surge
Cong Chen
Chinese, born 2001
Surge
2026
Oil on canvas
30 × 40 cm
Desire circulates within a group, passing from one person to another until individual choices begin to converge. As shared expectations accumulate, individual differences are gradually absorbed into a process of social homogenisation.
2026 Oil on canvas 30 × 40 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
Manufactured Identities
Cong Chen
Chinese, born 2001
Manufactured Identities
2026
Oil on canvas
60 × 80 cm
This work stems from observations of customers in cafés and explores identity as an evolving social construct. Desire, status, and a sense of belonging prompt individuals to adjust and reshape themselves in order to integrate into social groups, navigate them with ease, and gain recognition.
2026 Oil on canvas 60 × 80 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
The Roles We Become
Cong Chen
Chinese, born 2001
The Roles We Become
2026
Five-panel oil painting on canvas
Each panel 50 × 70 cm
Inspired by Prometheus, Tantalus, Argus, Sisyphus, and the Three Graces, this series reimagines these mythological figures as five social archetypes: the Giver, the Seeker, the Observer, the Resister, and the Collaborator. Together, they form a social system shaped by sacrifice, desire, surveillance, struggle, and mutual dependence, reflecting on how individuals adjust themselves in order to participate in and adapt to society.
2026 Five-panel oil painting on canvas Each panel 50 × 70 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
Shell
Cong Chen
Chinese, born 2001
Shell
2025
Oil paint and bubble wrap
20 × 30 cm
Bright yet hollow and fragile, the bubble wrap becomes a metaphor for false prosperity and the constructed appearance of identity. As the textured surface of the material envelops each individual, consumer culture emerges as a social force, shaping collective desires and encouraging individuals to project outwardly constructed identities.
2025 Oil paint and bubble wrap 20 × 30 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
Vision
Cong Chen
Chinese, born 2001
Vision
2026
Acrylic and oil on canvas
30 × 30 cm
Desire brings previously separate individuals together into a shared collective, allowing intentions and identities to merge. Connections between people manifest both as mutual dependence and as a gradual process of integration, causing the boundaries between the individual and the collective to become increasingly blurred.
2026 Acrylic and oil on canvas 30 × 30 cm
For Sale: Price on Request
Visual Hunger
Cong Chen
Chinese, born 2001
Visual Hunger
2025
Oil on canvas
20 × 30 cm
The eyes continuously absorb surrounding images, commodities, and collective values, until looking itself becomes a process of being consumed by what is seen. Desire is repeatedly awakened yet can never be fully satisfied, trapping attention in a cycle of attraction, lack, and renewed pursuit.
2025 Oil on canvas 20 × 30 cm
For Sale: Price on Request