Milena Said

Mrs. Rothbard

Int. Seminar 1

October 7, 2016

All about Eric

It’s hard to imagine someone more full of life than Eric Hua Chen. Raised in beautiful Taiwan, Eric grew up being a very positive and easy-going person. After receiving several awards in his hometown like an Honorable Mention for the School’s Magazine “Orange” cover in 2013, and the National Student Art Exhibition, Judge’s Award in 2013, Eric showed he had real potential in the world of art motivating him to move to New York City and fulfill his dreams of becoming a product designer. Eric started as a designer, photographer and artist after studying Advertisement Design in his high school, and now, he is pursuing his dreams by attending the well-known school of design, Parsons.

I won’t forget the first day I met Eric. After a short 10-minute talk, I had learned several things crucial to his personality. First and most importantly, he loved cheesecake. He had many things to say about food. And so what started as a small friendly conversation, ended up being a fight on Google search of who had the best food in their country. I would like to say I won, but Eric was way more ahead in the game. It didn’t take long for him and me to become friends. He is always wearing a nice peaceful smile and very open to everything. He doesn’t like to control things, as he believes everything is predestined in the hands of God. In Eric’s words, “everything happens naturally”. Naturally, we can see that his approach in life is reflected in his own artworks, as they are all very random selections of things he likes. Eric creates beautiful colorful pieces of people, objects, landscapes, food and anything he can imagine, showing he is a person who doesn’t need to follow a certain structure.

As a very spiritual person, Eric believes his personality is formed around his horoscope sign, Pisces that is why he loves to swim. He is a very gentle and calm person, who is very compassionate and intuitive, but at the same time, fearful and reserved. He is a slightly shy before he meets someone for the first time, but once he gets to know you, the real Eric reveals itself. Ironically, even though his horoscope‘s sign is a fish, Eric’s biggest fear are animals. Who would imagine? #randomfact

For Eric it’s all about friendship. The time he spends with his friends is one of the most valuable things he could receive. Day to day, he spends his time enjoying free events in NY like riding bikes at central park or free concerts with multiple independent singers, or just walking around exploring the city with his friends. When I asked Eric what was the biggest lesson he had ever learned, he replied: “People come and go, and it is hard to say goodbye”. Moving to NYC was both the greatest and hardest experiences for Eric, as it was difficult for him to stay in contact with his dearest friends from Taiwan. Living away from home opens your eyes on how different the world works without having all the commodities from home. Friends change, your life changes and you have to learn how to adapt with a positive attitude towards this changes. Although most things changed for Eric when moving to NY, his style of drawing remained the same. His artistic perspective didn’t change, however, he is now presented with many more internship possibilities to become what he truly aspires to be, a product designer.

Despite moving to NY, Eric has never forgotten where he comes from. His mother, an art schoolteacher, was one of his biggest influences he had when growing up. She gave him the liberty and talent to find out what he was truly good at. Another big inspiration for Eric is the Chief Design Officer from Apple Inc., Jonathan Ive, who has designed several of Apple’s products. These two are great inspirations, however, when he needs to clear his mind, walking around and observing nature helps to promote the rush of ideas in his mind. It is clear to say that Eric has an intrinsic talent for product design. He dreams in creating functional yet entertaining products that will make a person’s day better just by looking at it. His focus? Furniture. He believes that he can transform simple objects you use everyday like tables or chairs, to something practical but funny at the same time. Being a very resourceful and practical person, Eric achieved his first dream project when he decided to recreate a chair into a table. Using the same materials provided to build the chair, he used them creatively to transform it into a side coffee table. Eric does not limit himself to which materials he uses, “I use whatever I want, there is no correct answer. No one can judge you”. He also enjoys working with Illustrator, Photoshop and searching for images on the Internet, simple yet powerful tools. Eric’s artworks reflect a lot about his personality, which makes his works even more unique. They are colorful, funny, positive and mysterious, just like him. When you look at them, you are intrigued by the style and technique he uses.

One of my last questions to Eric was to tell me some words that he feels that identify him as a person, and he responded: cheesecake, funny, positive and delicious. I never though some of these adjectives could represent a human being, but I guess they fit perfectly to Eric’s character.

If one day you are feeling moody or blue, no matter the time, you know you can count on Eric Hua Chen to brighten up your day.