Three Layer Cake

Art Intimates Food

It’s an overcast day, the last day of Chris Chun’s Savour exhibit at the Washhouse Gallery in Rozelle (Sydney).  The weather is in sharp contrast with the feeling of the gallery inside.  It’s Chris' third solo exhibition since his first sell out show in 2004.  Before Savour, and in conjunction with the biennial Tasting Australia Festival in Adelaide, Chris also did a solo show called Appetite at the Hill Smith Fine Art Gallery.  You might call Chris a rising star.

Chris, a second generation Chinese-Australian, was born in Melbourne into a family of two chefs.  He grew up spoiled on great food and great family memories. After studying textile design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), Chris moved to Sydney and began designing textiles with Sheridan, Australia’s largest manufacturer of bed linens. After 4 years, he traveled to Europe where he spent time in Rome and London designing textiles.  Whilst working at Sheridan he met and became good friends with Gillian Noble, a product manager who was on his same artistic wavelength.

When Gillian opened her Washhouse Gallery in Rozelle last year, she didn’t forget about Chris.  She asked him how he’d like to do a solo exhibit sometime that year.  Exhilarated, but uncertain, Chris set out to dust off his paintbrushes and dig deep into his thoughts to come up with a subject that would represent not only what is near and dear to him, but something that viewers of his paintings may also be able to identify with.  The result?  Memories of his culinary past and his travels, happy moments shared with family over tea, vivid and soft colors, cakes and chocolate.  His first exhibit, Food for the soul, live to eat!, sold out and with good reason.

Pictures of Chris’ work are enough to sell you on his style.  But seeing them up close resuscitates the desire to redecorate if not a corner of your home, an entire room, to accommodate one of his paintings.  Just knowing he is a mixed-media artist is not enough though,  you have to see the paintings up close to appreciate the detail.  Not only does he paint detail, he also sews it into the canvasses.   The objects are outlined in colored thread, some stitching is done by machine, some by hand.  Gold leaf enriches the visual aesthetic, rice and paper add texture.  Take an afternoon to visit one of his shows, but don’t get your heart set on buying anything.  If you can’t get on his mailing list to preview his paintings before he exhibits, and you don’t commission a piece, forget about it.  His shows sell out fast! 

We can all identify with the subjects and themes of his paintings, even if we’ve never had a morning or afternoon tea with our family, or if the only rice we ever ate was Uncle Ben’s.  It’s the amazingly realistic detail in the photos he reproduces with paint, the color choices, sensation of warmth, well-being, and fun that capture your gaze.  “I think everyone has an emotional connection to food, whether it is the first memory of baked cookies by Mum or eating pizza for the first time in Italy.  I try to capture that feeling/moment and like to think of my paintings as mouthfuls of happiness,” he said.  He has genuinely succeeded in wrapping his personality, professional and personal experiences into each radiant painting.

He took a break from supervising the photography of his work (he’s also a former stylist) to talk, and he cherished the down time.  It has been a busy year and in particular a hard few months preparing for the shows, but his vacation was just two days away.  I pulled out a copy of Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell that I had just finished on my flight to offer him for his flight.  “If it’s anything like the Devil Wears Prada, I don’t want it!!”  he said laughing.  I told him to read it and let me know later.

A few days later, after his departure for his well-deserved vacation in Vietnam, he sent back an email.  We agreed on our assessment of the book, and he offered to exchange it with me for Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires.  As I closed the email and turned on the television, I saw Chris preparing a meal which was the basis for one of his paintings.  Seems he was also invited to design a book cover for The SBS Eating Guide to Sydney.  TV, book covers, sold out exhibits?   No doubts about it, Chris is definitely a rising star.