Caius Chew

Background

About Caius Chew

Caius Chew is an interdisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, B.C, with a practice rooted in exploring identity, community, and memory. His work is an ongoing inquiry into how personal and collective histories shape the spaces we inhabit and the rituals we perform. While attending the Rhode Island School of Design the rise of xenophobia during the COVID-19 pandemic brought an awareness of the complexities of identity and the necessity of communal reflection. In response, he aims to create work that fosters connection — both within himself and with the broader community. Food, childhood, and the rituals surrounding both are integral to his practice. These themes ground his exploration of how community ties and family histories endure and adapt over time. The objects, spaces, and habits we leave behind tell powerful stories of our lives and our relationships with the world around us. His work seeks to bring those stories into focus, honoring the strange, beautiful, and awkward experience of being. He is particularly interested in the intersection of memory and materiality. He explores how artifacts, whether through the subconscious habits of individuals or the communal, serve as a bridge between past and present. In works such as True Memory Foam, where he traced the contours of a night’s sleep, and Orange Peel Prints, where he transformed his family's discarded peels into drawings, investigate how even the most fleeting moments and overlooked objects carry meaning. These works reflect his fascination with how habits, rituals, and the spaces we inhabit leave traces that are both personal and universally resonant. Ultimately, my art is an invitation to reflect on the legacies we inherit and the ones we create, whether through personal memory or communal experience. Through materials, ritual, and narrative, he aims to uncover the hidden beauty in the spaces, objects, and people that surround us — and to contribute to a deeper, more inclusive conversation about identity, belonging, and the passage of time.