My work consists of watercolors, inks, and gouaches, on various forms of paper, satin finish hot press to rough texture cold press and occasionally on vellum. The environment radically affects my work as it is conceptually based and intuitively driven. Colored lines and color blocks form relationships on the page, then pages layered on top of and juxtaposed next to more pages form another layer of relationship. Color palette preferences vary significantly in the Mojave desert as compared to Venice Beach. Having painted in Maine, Costa Rica, Italy, and Thailand, during artist residencies, I've experienced radically differing color choices in each local climate and natural beauty.

Here in Joshua Tree, watching the dogs romp and bunnies hop is part of my morning meditation. In a perfect world, families of quail warbling and scuttling along fill the days between sunrise and sunsets, full moons and blankets of stars weave magic into the endless night skies. It's idyllic verging on cliche, and I'm filled with gratitude.

I bring my same stash of paints with me everywhere I go. Hundreds of tubes, bottles, and pans in every imaginable color from a lifetime of influences. Yet, it's clear where each piece was made judging solely by its color range. Here in the subtle desert reaching for anything bright and fluorescent seems uncouth. I've mixed an array of colors all ranging between 15% of the color spectrum. Yellow-green, green-gold, golden brown, sap green, olive branch, sand, ochre, sepia, umber, pale gold, copper mountain, the colors that I call invisible in this subtle landscape. Camouflage is the survival skill of all desert life, probably the early roots of the link between subtlety and sophistication.

Contemplating this exhibition concept, I recall that calligrapy ink and brush were my first painting form and all of America is working remotely, but that is another story for another time.

Angel Chen

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