I’ve seen a lot of art that has impressed me, left me stunned, or stirred strong feelings. However, I’ve never seen art as contemplative, serene, and imaginatively realized as the works created by Lumi Chen, one of the most unique artists in South Africa – and I think you’ll agree with me once you’ve seen her art. Before her next showing at Comic Con Cape Town, I caught up with Lumi Chen and spoke to her about inspirations, humble beginnings, and the road paved with challenges being recognised in the country.



Lumi Chen’s artwork, upon first glance, conjures mystical imagery of foxes, dragons, cats, birds, and other creatures, keeping it simplistic with minimal use of colour. However, when colour is implemented – typically smart uses of red, orange and yellow – it’s used to great effect and to enhance a specific detail of her piece (take this dragon wielding a lantern, for example). A majority of Lumi’s art is monochrome, with splashes of colour that give her work a striking, original quality. It’s definably hers – a lengthy experimentation process that’s best documented through her evolution on Instagram, if you want to check it out and retrace those steps.



If I had to pin it down to a feeling, I’d call Lumi Chen’s art “quiet magic.” The softer, dialled back colours evoke a more relaxed, contemplative feeling without being too loud and aggressive with her imagery. It’s soft, gentle almost, but not without a ton of imagination. The magical part of her art is in full view, with pieces lifted out of fantasy, real-life folklore and myths, and significant cultural elements from around the world.

Lumi Chen began showcasing and posting her works back in 2021 – 2022 and since then, the extremely positive feedback from fans motivated her to continue.



How long have you been drawing and what motivated you to start and keep going?

Lumi: I’ve been drawing for as long as I can remember. I would think the whole reason why I became so passionate and invested in the arts is because I was born hearing-impaired (or well, was diagnosed with hearing-impairment at a very young age). Connecting with the world was a major struggle as I wasn’t able to properly join in on the social world due to not being able to hear clearly. Because of this, I had turned inwards and preferred creating my own worlds. I had also gone through quite a traumatic university life which lead to my world becoming even more isolated from the social world, adding fuel into my creative outlets.

Connecting with the world was a major struggle as I wasn’t able to properly join in on the social world due to not being able to hear clearly. Because of this, I had turned inwards and preferred creating my own worlds.

It was when my then-boyfriend-now-husband convinced me to post and showcase my works back in 2021-2022, I realised that people were connecting and resonating with what I created. People were telling me about what they felt when they see my art and some had also told me ways it had healed, changed or inspired them. People want my work on them permanently or in their homes. It completely changed me, knowing than even if my social presence is weak and I cannot connect with people properly through spoken and hearing means, at least I can make a connection and positive influence through what I create and that’s enough for me.



You have an incredibly unique art style. What are some of your key inspirations/sources of ideas?

Lumi: Thank you! I started really finding my style when I decided I wanted to push my art professionally during the COVID era. I had decided I wanted to join in on one of the Inktober challenges during 2021-2022 when I had realised I really enjoyed creating simple, minimalistic works in black and white to express what I needed to. In my opinion, colour already has such a structured system as we’ve already been taught from young what certain meanings and feelings different colours get associated with. Black and white simplicity eradicates everything we’ve been taught, allowing true freedom of interpretation based on shape, form and implied lines. One of my biggest inspirations has got to be Faunwood who utilises black and white compositions so well to create her vast worlds of creatures and things.

As a tattoo artist too, what are some of the challenges compared to regular illustrations (and do you have any wild tattoo stories to share)?

Lumi: I had to learn the hard way that there are details and methods of art that are strictly not applicable on skin. You have to consider the sizing of the pieces as well as line depth and spacing to ensure that the piece integrity remains on a live organ (that is your skin) that ages as the years go by. It definitely isn’t as simple as drawing on skin. Also, I’m very much a digital artist and abuse the undo button like no tomorrow. You can’t do that on a real live person. I (luckily) have not encountered anything too wild yet but I guess the wildest I have is…the fact that my then-boyfriend-now-husband took the bullet for everyone in being my first ever client/2nd human I ever tattooed. And it was his first tattoo ever. We weren’t even talking about marriage then.



What are some of the biggest challenges or hurdles you face as an artist in the industry (or especially in South Africa)?

Lumi: One of the biggest challenges is that with how accessible and vast the internet is now, almost every industry is super saturated. I was a little more fortunate that I had started gaining exposure years back but it definitely is getting harder to be noticed with all the content being produced with the growing crowd and “noise” all over the several social platforms. Algorithms now come in play and art has now become very much less about creating and finding your community and more about feeding the meta and keeping up with trends to get views and likes.

I was a little more fortunate that I had started gaining exposure years back but it definitely is getting harder to be noticed with all the content being produced with the growing crowd and “noise” all over the several social platforms.

Let’s not even mention the growing use of AI to pass off images as fully fledged “original artworks”. As for the industry in South Africa, well…the only thing I can say about it is…being Taiwanese/Asian born in South Africa doesn’t grant you the status of being a local South African artist, especially when my style doesn’t “fit” the local “criteria”. I often find that my work doesn’t get accepted for a lot of our local projects as the focus is very much on culture preservation and its roots.



Can you impart some wisdom and advice for artists looking to build a career?

Lumi: It’s a very steep hill to start off with and you start off very slow but if you keep on going, keep on pushing and keep on remembering the reason why you started in the first place, you will get far. Keep creating for you and your community will find you. The people who resonate with what you create will come. Sometimes it’ll feel like you’re just showing the void but would you really be able to call the piece yours if you’re just waiting for external validation and for others to put value in what you made? The sole purpose of creating art should always be for yourself. The art business career side of things will follow in time and perseverance.

Visit Lumi Chen’s official website to discover more of her art, information and details, and show your support!