Mae Chan

Mae Chan is an artist based in London and Hong Kong. Her practice is a multi-disciplinary fusion of textiles, craft, and sculpture.

Rooted in poetic, narrative, and artisanal traditions, Chan's work invites viewers to connect empathically through affect-driven mediums. Her mixed-media sculptures reframe objects within different contexts of intimacy, boundaries, and judgement. Playing with the semiotics of form and touch, she dissects subtle emotional shifts, leveraging the human form as a foundational metaphor.

Chan’s sculptures, including “Liquid and solid” and “A strange family,” have been collected by private collectors in 2019 and 2021 respectively.

For all enquiries please email mmaechann@gmail.com

Hugs contain more emotion than what first meets the eye. Inspired by real stories of hugging, Mae Chan's work introduces the subtle yet powerful emotions of hugs through tactile dynamic forms. Based on affect-driven materials, colours and shapes, Chan dissects the denotative qualities of intimacy and boundary, building from how our society, culture, and personal experience shape our definitions of "touch".

Each sculpture carries the recollection of a specific hug. Chan poetically depicts the breath, temperature, and weight experienced in a hug through the intimate gestures of wrapping and touching.

They close the space between each other

Soft and warm, as if one

Locked tightly together in full trust

They open to the uncertain space that remains between them

Hard and cold, as if there were a gap, a crevice

Stretched taut and an impenetrable boundary

Hugging Diary — This poetry exposes the real stories of hugs hidden within my hugging portraits. Starting in 2019, I have been writing and making in order to fully express the simple yet beautiful moments depicted in stories of hugs. It became a lonely but comforting process during lockdown. When touch is still untouchable, they are my solace, as well as my reflection.