Felicia Chiao: Not Too Sweet

The exhibition presents some of the artist’s most colorful work to date. The dreamy compositions are filled with vibrant patterns that expand beyond the toned paper and onto the photo mats containing them.

Each piece is inhabited by Chiao’s recurring characters—an anonymous figure lacking defining features and a dark bean-shaped creature. At first glance, the pieces appear bright and fun. However, upon closer examination, less “sweet” moments emerge.

Regarding these less “sweet” or ambiguous moments, the artist writes “I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. When your senses aren’t being overwhelmed by ‘sweetness’, then you are able to experience more nuanced flavors.

I think this very colorful show has a lot of other ‘flavors’ that I invite the viewer to search for.”

Felicia Chiao is a Taiwanese-American artist and illustrator based in the Bay Area. With a background in industrial design from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Chiao brings a unique sensitivity and precision to her illustrative works. Her illustrations offer the viewer a quiet meditation on mental health, isolation, and the introspective dimensions of daily life.

Working with watercolor, colored pencils, and toned paper, she constructs dreamlike interiors and organic landscapes inhabited by an anonymous figure that lacks any defining features, making it feel universal and deeply relatable. A dark, bean-like figure also recurs throughout her work that many viewers recognize as a symbol for anxiety and depression. What sets Chiao’s work apart is its quiet empathy. There is no grand narrative or overt symbolism, just small moments captured in stillness. Whether it is a figure curled up on a sofa or staring out a window, her images create a language that evokes feeling and emotion.

Chiao’s work has been shown extensively with Harman Projects in New York City, and San Francisco. In addition to her exhibitions, she has published multiple sketchbooks through Paragon Books, while also collaborating with A24, Universal Music, and Google. She continues to create from her home studio, where she explores new ways of communicating emotional truths through the intimacy of drawing.