Born in 1975 in Malaysia, Eric Chan holds a Master of Fine Arts (painting) from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), and received an Outstanding achievement Award in the Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts (painting) program from RMIT in 1997.

In 2002, Chan won the Juror's Choice Award in the Philip Morris Group of Companies Singapore Art Awards (2001/20002). In 2003, Chan received the Highly Commended Award in the Open Photography Section of the UOB Painting of the Year. Chan is one of four artists participating in the Queensland University Art Museum Roving Exhibition Toward Beauty's End touring throughout Australia, opening in November of 2004 and continuing through 2005.

Chan is an exceptional painter. He presents an emotional impression of an object to the viewer, both distorting and enhancing certain qualities of the image. His works holds elements of the impressionist style, yet further demonstrate a highly-evolved stylized sentiment. His compositions are deliberately set, leaving the viewer to consider the continuation of the object in its space outside the canvas. His use of colour emphasizes mood and emotion of the object in the work.

Like many artist, Chan has developed his own painting technique over the past decade. Much of the artists time is spent working on very realistic renditions of his subjects with small brushes. Nearing the completion of the work, at various stages while the image dries, Chan would employ techniques such as using larger brushes to distort or expand the compositions in different rates to produce an effect which is almost ephemeral.

 

Chan has held numerous group and solo exhibitions in the region including Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta and Hong Kong. His works are held in both corporate and private collections in the region.

Chan's work addresses the image and the impression, how we register objects or remember them fleetingly glimpsed. Each piece resembles filmic images viewed through a diffused lens, resonating mystery, quiet romance and languor. Adeline Ooi, Independent Art Curator.