ARTIST'S STATEMENT Celeste Chin’s abstract, gestural paintings command attention with dynamic and colorful compositions. Celeste is a third generation Chinese-American who loves the raw beauty of calligraphy which informs her work. Her paintings are equally influenced by her experience playing piano as a child, as music and rhythm influence the vibrant forms on her canvases. The fusion of improvisation and planning that goes into her work is impacted by her background as the artist explains, “My Chinese work ethic insists on structure, the American in me thrives on rhythm and movement. The paintings are born from this.” Celeste’s oil paintings combine lyrical and gestural abstraction with representation. She works to capture elements of nature, creating portraits that evoke qualities of seasons and temperatures; and stir emotions. While she makes nature her subject, Celeste finds that traditional landscape paintings alone do not incite her curiosity. Instead she conveys the qualities of nature such as the power of the ocean, the potent renewal of spring, and the quiet grace of a tree. These impressions are then expressed on canvas as Celeste works in sweeping, coiled, and rhythmic brush strokes vibrating with color and movement. ABOUT Celeste Chin is a former financial analyst who pursued her art education in the early 2000’s. She studied painting and sculpture in schools around the Bay Area including California College of the Arts and San Francisco Studio School. Celeste continues her studio practice at Hunters Point in San Francisco.