Shenzhen illustrator Chen Zu’er is exhibiting her illustrations at the “Voyages · Dans les Mondes Merveilleux” (“Voyages · In the Wonderful Worlds”) exhibition at the AN+ Art & Design Center.

Chen’s artworks combine elements from both the East and the West, the ancient and the present, drawing attention from passers-by with a clear sense of Oriental elegance tinted with a light but also bold Western expressiveness.

She went to France at the age of 14, studying design and graphic art at ESAG Penninghen in Paris. Her 10 years in France tempered her in such an immersive way that it later inspired her to publish her first illustration book, “Paris and Me,” in 2018.

The book reflects her life experiences and inner change while studying in Paris. In it, she paints in a bizarre manner: Salamis become dancing girls; the local ancient architectural buildings are opera performers waiting in the wings; and stools hurry to have afternoon tea. “It is a book full of my ‘crazy ideas,’” says Chen, who has garnered more than 330,000 followers on her Chinese social media accounts.

Chen seemed to have a knack for “making up stories” when she was young. “I used to tell bedtime stories every night to my little sister, but she always asked for more,” recalls Chen. “So I decided to create my own stories using matchstick men to share with my faithful little audience.”

Now Chen has been telling her magical stories for more than 14 years. Matchstick men, with the name “Ant,” became her specialty and from which she developed her unique painting style. However, she hit a bottleneck in her sophomore year of college when a professor highlighted the imbalance between the finely-drawn clothes and the crude limbs of her figures. Entangled but impelled, she started her exploration in different ways of representation and materials, developing a keen interest in acrylic ink.

“I love witnessing cultural collisions, and want to combine Chinese and Western elements that are sometimes conflicting. Such contrasts often give me surprising results,” she says.

When asked about her opinion of Chinese culture, she said that “it can be magnificent like the Palace Museum, but it can also be as simple as what I drew as a Chinese girl.”

Dates: Until April 18

Hours: 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Tickets: 68 yuan per person, 108 yuan for two persons

Venue: AN+ Art & Design Center, 3/F, PAFC Mall, Ping An Finance Center, Futian District (福田区平安金融中心PAFC Mall三楼安云艺术设计中心)

Metro: Line 1 or 3 to Shopping Park Station (购物公园站), Exit D(SD News)