Winnie Chiu

A fter learning the fundamentals of realistic painting during her childhood in Hong Kong, Winnie Chiu spent her collegiate years exploring the freedom she felt when she transformed the world into abstract shapes. Relationships became lines, flowers became geometric figures, and everything lived on the canvas in a way only Chiu had ever imagined. 

Chiu initially studied at the Savannah College of Arts and Design’s Hong Kong campus before moving 4,300 miles to Georgia to complete her degree. After arriving in America, she took her childhood conventional training and the big ideas she’d developed, and blew them up onto massive canvases she could live in while she painted. When an opportunity to move to New York arose, Chiu packed her belongings and came to the city, finally experiencing pieces of art she’d spent years studying in books. 

Chiu has taken advantage of every chance to share her work with others. From holding solo exhibitions showcasing art pieces dedicated to her family, to spending an entire day painting a mural in the Lower East Side for every pedestrian’s enjoyment, she is making her mark far beyond the canvas. 

Bar Belly, a cocktail bar in the Lower East Side, has been Chiu’s place of work since she landed in New York. The friends she’s made there are constant attendees at her art shows, and her managers support her endeavors by offering her space for exhibitions and accommodating her schedule. For Chiu, all of her New York work centers around her love for relationships, both familial and platonic. ∎