About Connie
My body has heaven and hell in it.
When we stop trying to ignore, repress, and pray away the hell, we allow ourselves the grace to be human, to actually make a home in the bodies we inhabit.
My research begins from my body and how it speaks to me through its innate impulses, pleasure, pain, and its deep desire for complete belonging. My process of creating is a response to the needs of my body’s longing: whose art and words can help me imagine belonging? What experiences do I already have that have equipped me to imagine that world? How can I accept my hell and in so trying, invite others to do so too?
Connie received her Bachelor’s degree in English, with Honors, from Wellesley College. She holds a Master of Divinity with a focus on religion and literature from Harvard University, and an MFA in creative nonfiction from the University of Iowa, where she was an Iowa Arts Fellow.
Connie Chen is the youngest Master Penman in the world, and the only one recognized for her skills in Engrosser’s Script, Ornamental Penmanship, and Offhand Flourishing by both Senior Master Penman William A. Lilly and Master Penman John DeCollibus. Connie apprenticed to Senior Master Penman William A. Lilly, who earned a Gold Seal Certificate at the Zanerian College, the top award given by America’s leading school of penmanship and engrossing. With more than 20 years of experience in English and Chinese calligraphy, Connie creates art that transcends the boundaries of geography, culture, and time.
Connie has served as the Vice-President of the New England Calligraphy Organization Masscribes and is an active member of the International Association of Master Penman and Teachers of Handwriting (IAMPETH).
Here is my Master Penman Certificate, the beginning of my journey. The bird represents the Spirit of God. It is what brought me to and through my calligraphy journey. But looking at the title, it is also interceding, sitting on the scripture John 1:1, reminding me that “The Word was with God” first. So I must write where the Spirit leads me. I must write for the gospel. This spiritual heritage transitions into my earthly heritage in my Chinese name embedded in my English name written in the Chinese calligraphy I so love.