Biography
MOVANA CHEN (b 1974)
Movana Chen (b.1974) is an artist based in Hong Kong and Lisbon. Her multidisciplinary practice is rooted in the exploration of communication across cultures, deconstructing and reconstructing dictionaries, maps and paper forms to create sculptural installations and wearable works that represent new forms of language. Her work is a fusion of media, performance, installation and sculpture.
Chen's work has been shown at the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art (2025), the Turkish Textile Biennial (2025) and the 3rd Thailand Biennale, Chiang Rai (2023-2024). Her other recent exhibitions include Factory of Tomorrow, CHAT 5th anniversary exhibition, Hong Kong (2024); Knitting Conversations, Focus Gallery, M+ Museum, Hong Kong (2024) and Body Container: Questioning the Line, Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong (2024).
Chen studied Fashion Design at the London College of Fashion, UK, and Fine Art at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Hong Kong.
Movana Chen, 'Beyond the Surface', 2024 – ongoing Knitted, shredded travel documents, 800 x 20 x 5 cm, 315 x 7 7/8 x 2 in
Beyond the Surface is a deeply personal and ongoing exploration of human identity and connection. It begins with Chen collecting expired passports in person from people willing to share them and offer their individual stories. Chen describes this process as representative of "our human need - this pure love, not an identity of paper." She shreds the passports, deconstructing the individual identity, and knits the strands together, intertwined with the passports of others, (re)constructing one large interconnected body.
Selected work
Exhibitions
News
Movana Chen
featured on ArtBasel.com
19 March 2024
Movana Chen
featured in Art Asia Pacific
18 March 2024
