Wen-Li Chan

Armed with an eye for detail, a technical pen, and the firm belief that art has the capability to break all barriers, freelance artist and illustrator Wen Li has created drawings that resonate with the many communities that she finds herself in.

Wen Li was commissioned by the Women’s Aid Organisation (WAO) to conceptualise and draw the character Tina, who is also the namesake of WAO’s domestic violence SMS/WhatsApp line. Her drawings of Tina appeared on a 100 metre-long printed mural titled Harapan Sentiasa Ada (or ‘There Is Always Hope’) on the wall of the underground pedestrian tunnel at the Masjid Jamek LRT station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Wen Li is also the illustrator for Tina’s Journey – A Collection of Words and Poetry by Survivors of Domestic Violence, commissioned by the WAO and co-authored with Bernice Chauly and Kelvin Ang. Tina's Journey was launched at the George Town Literary Festival in Penang in November 2017, and at Ruang By Think City in Kuala Lumpur in December 2017 where Wen Li also held a mini-exhibition of her works, entitled True Colours.

Wen Li’s works have been exhibited at Conteng LAH!’16 by Doodle Malaysia. She is also a keen comic artist. She is the Co-Founder and 'Chief Cartoonist' for Running Toons, probably Malaysia's first comic strip on running. Her comic sketch related to a major local marathon event has appeared on the sports cover page of the Malay Mail in 2015.

Wen Li is also a passionate advocate of mental health awareness through her drawings as a lived-experience artist. She held her first solo exhibition, Drawing My Mind – A Lived Experience Art Exhibition, in Kuching, Sarawak in July 2017, in conjunction with the 29th World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the 21st Malaysian Conference of Psychological Medicine.

When not wielding a technical pen,
Wen Li lectures halls of googly-eyed law students, runs marathons and hikes trails, sings with a cappella groups, fancies herself as a virtuoso piano accompanist, and occasionally puts on her tap shoes for a shuffle. She dreams of living that mythical artist’s life, amid an endless supply of coffee.

MEDIA INTERVIEWS

BOOK LAUNCHES 

Book Launch + Mini Exhibition : Tina's Journey  
Saturday 9 December 2017 (1.30pm - 3.00pm
RUANG at Think City, Kuala Lumpur
[View event photos on Facebook]

• Published by the Women's Aid Organisation, curated by Bernice Chauly and Kelvin Ang, illustrated by Chan Wen Li.  
• Sponsored by Selangor Properties Berhad, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, KL Writers Workshop, and In den Vremde.
• Also featuring a mini-exhibition of Chan Wen Li's works, 'True Colours'.

George Town Literary Festival 2017

Tina's Journey (Illustrations commissioned by the Women's Aid Organisation, 2017)

View event page 

• Published by the Women's Aid Organisation (WAO), curated by Bernice Chauly and Kelvin Ang, and illustrated by Chan Wen Li. 
• The book project is sponsored by Selangor Properties Berhad, the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, KL Writers Workshop and In Den Vremde.

EXHIBITIONS

Drawing My Mind - A Lived Experience Art Exhibition

July 20-22, 2017, Borneo Convention Centre, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

In conjunction with the The 29th World Congress of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) & The 21st Malaysian Conference of Psychological Medicine (MCPM)

Note: All drawings appearing on this website are original copyrighted works by the artist. Please do not download or distribute without permission.