The fengshui-inspired mural art of Sheep Chen

This article was originally published on Neocha and is republished with permission.

Under the sweltering June sun, street artist Sheep Chen (陈暘 Chén Yáng) is atop a crane lift, putting the finishing touches on a five-story-tall mural. The piece—covering the side of an entire residential building—is bold and imposing, and against the weather-worn facades of the surrounding buildings, its colors seem even more vibrant.

The mural, titled The Red Hare’s Sincerity, is a stone’s throw away from Chengdu’s Yi Guan Temple. The location’s significance can be found in the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms; in the book, when the region’s ruling king Liu Bei was unable to retrieve the corpse of his fallen general, Guan Yu, a cenotaph honoring his passing was built in front of the temple. Giving nod to the tale, the centerpiece of Chen’s composition features the legendary stallion Red Hare, which was briefly owned by Guan Yu in the novel. The horse in Chen’s mural is mounted by a different owner though: a solar deity, one of the few recurring characters throughout his work. In this piece, the sun’s mouth is upturned in a benevolent smile.

On the ground, the crowd that’s gathered to watch the mural’s progress has only gotten bigger. Chen can’t help but crack a smile of his own. After all, working in public is his favorite thing about being an artist.

In China, public art first found steam by way of peasant paintings, an art form that was spurred on by government cultural initiatives between the ’50s and ’80s. Yet, despite the historic precedence, contemporary forms of public art never quite took off in the country. Chen believes that street art’s stunted growth in China is in part due to the fact that many domestic artists fail to ground their works in relatable, local context. A successful mural requires the artist to have a thorough understanding of the place they’re working in and the people they’re making it for, Chen says. “A mural should radiate an aura. It should feel surprising and leave an impression. A colorful mural in the concrete expanses of a city should be a sight for sore eyes.”

Chen refuses to work within the clichés of contemporary street art, opting instead to search for inspiration in myths and legends. Rinsed through his imagination and rendered in vivid colors, he turns common fairy tales and folklores into large-scale murals teeming with power. While Chen enjoys working in the realm of fiction, he finds it equally important to tap into the intangible aspects of everyday life for inspiration. “Wisdom, love, religion, and spirituality are all prevalent themes in my art,” he says. “I want my art to be optimistic. When you channel positivity, the cosmos will channel it back to you.” His cheerful works have brightened up walls in China, Singapore, the U.S., and more.

Over the years, Chen has found tremendous success within the Chinese street-art scene, but the self-skepticism and second guessing that marked his younger years have stuck. He treasures this self-awareness and inwardly critical gaze, considering there to be many parallels between his introspective approach to making art and Buddhist practices. He goes as far as to say the artistic journey is a spiritual pilgrimage, and an artist reaches “enlightenment” once they hone in on their own style.

Born in Jiaxing, a sleepy city in China’s Zhejiang Province, Chen sees his hometown as the perfect setting for making art. Jiaxing is an incredibly calming place to him, a safe haven where he can declutter his mind and reorient himself. He’s lived for stints of time in larger cities, such as Wuhan and Singapore, but he always returns home. “When I’m back home in Jiaxing, everything feels unhurried,” he says. “My thoughts can easily take on a visual form.”

These visualizations of Chen’s conscious and subconscious mind often appear in the form of disparate religious and cultural symbols, whether it be The Eight Immortals of Chinese mythology or the mysterious unicorns of Western art. He believes tradition and culture are parts of life that best capture the spiritual side of our physical existence. This interest in spirituality has been a defining factor in his artistic growth—Chen considers Buddhist meditation to be one of his biggest inspirations to date.

In 2017, Chen went on a meditation retreat at Nanchan Temple. There, he gained a deeper appreciation of yin and yang. Since then, his art has become heavily influenced by the notion of duality. One of the most prominent visualizations of yin and yang in his work is the appearance of the sun and the moon. “Yin and yang, and the notion of achieving balance are key inspirations lately,” he says. “Being mindful of the world’s duality has afforded me new perspectives in art and changed the way I live my life.”

From 2018 onwards, this pursuit of balance has transformed his creative process. Chen now even looks to feng shui and its five elements—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water—when planning a mural. “The colors and shapes I use are dependent on the location,” he says. “If there isn’t a body of water nearby, I’ll use more blues and softer lines. If there’s a lack of metal, I’ll use more whites and angular shapes.”

Today, street-side murals are still fairly rare in China, but Chen is optimistic about the future. “China develops fast, and people are becoming more and more open-minded,” he says. “These types of works will eventually find a place in the Chinese art scene—they’ll most likely first find recognition within the fine art circuit, then it’ll hit the mainstream and be accepted by the masses.”

With over a decade of experience under his belt, Chen is often regarded as one of the pioneers of Chinese street art. These accolades mean nothing to him though. For him, creating art is simply his passion, a way for him to express himself. Chasing clout has never been a motivator. “I’m not someone who lives in a bubble with only personal interests at heart though,” he adds. “I want my work to evoke strong emotions. I’m passionate about art and I want to make more. I want my art to bring joy to friends, family, and strangers alike.”

---

Like this story? Follow neocha on Facebook and Instagram.

Instagram: @sheep.chen
Weibo: ~/sheep513

Contributor: Pete Zhang
English Translation: David Yen
Images Courtesy of Sheep Chen & HKWalls