Stan Chan

INFO

Name	Stan Chan (he/him)
Born	1949
Country of Birth	China
Place of Residence	Pōneke Wellington
Ethnicities	Chinese (Cantonese)
Artform	Visual arts, Opera
Decades Active	1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, 2020s

ABOUT

Stan Chan is a painter, art teacher and Chinese opera performer. He is well-known in Pōneke Wellington for his Chinese brush paintings and calligraphy, and for his studio inkLink, which is located on Left Bank (just off Cuba Street).

Chan was born in China, and his family moved to Hong Kong when he was 4-years old, where he attended a Catholic school. His love of both painting and Chinese opera developed during this time, and he was part of a professional company for several years. At the age of 23, in 1972, Chan decided to move to Aotearoa, where his sister already lived and where his grandfather (who had moved to New Zealand around 1930) was buried in Karori Cemetery.

Chan always wanted to be an artist, but initially, he worked as a commercial art director to support his family. He established himself as a freelance art director and artist in 1979, telling Kristen Ng:

From ’79-’99, I was Stan Chan Graphic Ltd. Over the years [prior to 1979], I worked for Haywrights, the Tourism Department and the Evening Post, which wasn’t so interesting because there was no colour print in those days. Then I got a job at Ilott Advertising, which was a big company at the time. But I always wanted to be on my own like I was in Hong Kong, so I got a small freelance office at 101 Group Graphics on Willis Street, with the help of Albert Wong.

In 2000, Chan opened inkLink, a studio and workshop, where he teaches students and engages with visitors who can drop by to see him work, show them their work, and chat. Chan has explained the name of inkLink art studio as “Friendship through the ink”, with the logo combining the characters 墨 (ink), 緣 (Link) and 軒 (art studio). He has said, “My hope for the studio is that it will link people who use ink for painting or calligraphy together and we will become friends because we share the same interest.”

He is a member of The NZ Academy of Fine Arts, Wellington Society of Watercolour Artists, Wellington Art Club and NZ Oriental Arts Society. He has taught workshops and given demonstrations at many different art societies, galleries and schools, including the Inverlochy Art School, Hutt Art Society, Wellington Art Club, Karori Arts Centre, Masterton Art Society, Tauranga Art Centre, Warkworth Art Society and Te Papa.

Chan says, “From a very young age, I always liked to be an artist, so I’m glad after all these years, after all this time, I’m still a single, simple, artist.” His work has been shown in group and solo exhibitions, including a collaboration called Ho Sun Nian with artist Kerry Ann Lee in 2021, curated by Linda Lim, which was displayed in the Courtenay Place lightboxes. The public display combined Lee’s collage artworks with Lee’s brush paintings, both exploring Chinese New Year celebrations throughout the years.

Chan continues to perform Chinese opera, alongside friends as part of the Wellington Chinese Operatic Society Group.