Artist Spotlight: Anna Ka wai Kwan on Painting Between Bites
If you’ve scrolled through social media lately, you may have stumbled upon the charming sight of a young woman, watercolor brush in hand, capturing the soul of a dish before ever taking a bite. Between bustling café tables and candlelit bistros, Anna Ka wai Kwan is transforming plates into painted keepsakes — each stroke a love letter to flavor and form.
Hong Kong–born and now a familiar face in New York’s vibrant dining scene, Anna has always been a passionate artist who has recently begun her journey in food content creation, blending her two passions into a signature style that’s as appetizing as it is impressive.
The Beat Asia caught up with the artist to talk about her beginnings, her foray into live painting, love for food and art, and how those two combined make up her colorful and vibrant world.
A Plate Full of Inspiration
Anna has always been a gifted artist — a passion that was founded, unsurprisingly, at the dinner table.
“I always tell people it's such a full circle moment. My mom told me that I started picking up a coloring pencil, probably a few months in, when she brought me to restaurants,” she shared. “Ever since I was little, I have always drawn at restaurants and during meal times. I’d always hold on to crayons that she gave me and just scribble and stuff.”
As she grew older, her hobby of scribbling and coloring morphed into a full-blown passion. She started focusing on acrylic painting, which is the primary medium she likes to use. She was also introduced to Chinese watercolor painting later on, a medium she uses mostly for her food content. Anna was also an art scholar in high school and even had an exhibition at the Hong Kong Public Library when she was fourteen years old. She eventually moved to New York where she pursued a Fine Arts degree at the Parsons School of Design.
Known mostly for her live painting escapades in cafes and bistros in the city, Anna dipped her toes into content creation only last year when she started doing live portrait painting as a way of exploring what she wanted to do after graduation.
“I was always good at painting and drawing really fast,” she told The Beat Asia. “So I just set up an easel in Washington Square Park and just did that one day. People came up to me and bought the paintings and it was like a 10-minute portrait painting, but with acrylic paint! So, people were like, 'what?' It was new compared to just sketching on a piece of paper.”
Beyond her skills, Anna also shared that a reason she decided to start with live portrait painting was to share more about the process of creating a piece, which she believes creates meaningful connections with people and sparks interest in the art form.
“Everyone kind of views art as something you create at home or in a very secluded area. But I feel like with live painting, when people see the process, they feel a little bit more inclined to start as well. It’s kind of intimidating as a person who doesn't do art to only see the final piece, not realizing how many steps or how many ‘trust the process’ moments actually happen throughout the painting process. It just doesn't go from blank page to a final piece. I think that's one of the beauties about it. People can see it. People can feel more comfortable talking to an artist about it. I have so many who come up to me and start a conversation and say that they just see me enjoying the moment and they want to be into that too. I think it’s really beautiful.”
Today, Anna’s live painting and previous food content work have evolved into a distinct niche: painting at restaurants. The artist told us about how she only began recording herself in September 2024 while on a trip to one of her favorite bakeries in the West Village called Claude, with the encouragement of her best friend, who went with her. Armed with her portable watercolor palette, a medium she was re-familiarizing herself with at that time after focusing on acrylic for a while, and with the help of her friend in recording, she created her first live food painting.
“It was just us tasting the pastries and me painting. It felt awkward at first but when I rewatched the video, it was so soothing. I loved watching it. So, I edited the video and added a little voiceover where I talked about my mom wanting to open a bakery when she was little and posted it.”
“The video didn't do amazing, but I didn't really care at that point. I was just amazed at how the video encapsulated me as a person and as a creative. I was doing a lot of food content at that time. I love like cooking, I love making food, and I love the community aspect of food. I also loved editing, doing social media, and talking. So, in the moment, I felt like this kind of video encapsulated me as a whole. It was authentically me.”
Anna continued to create and post her live food painting escapades for fun, until she posted one from her Paris trip which blew up. People started genuinely liking her post, and she eventually earned a solid following—around 157k on Instagram as of writing. She also shared how she views food as a portrait, every dish having its own personality, even fashion and culture behind it.
“Food is such an art form and it's not appreciated enough. You kind of just see it, maybe take a photo, but a photo lasts two seconds and then you eat it and you forget about it. Where it's like when you're painting, you kind of look at the food more; you look at all the details and the colors and the composition. It’s kind of like a flavor for the eyes.”
But more than followers and likes, it’s her art and how she expresses herself through it that shines through her page. In each painting that she creates, a lot of elements come into play—from the lighting, sound, and overall atmosphere and vibe of the place. All of those things are incorporated into her work, creating something truly unique and impressive. She puts in a lot of research into the food places she visits, often looking up the destination, reading through reviews on Reddit, and asking locals to make sure that she’s featuring something she would personally recommend.
Anna also adores fashion and can be seen matching her outfits to the vibe of the restaurants she’s dining in, which adds to the performance factor, all without compromising authenticity.
When asked about her typical setup, Anna shared her top painting essentials, which include her sketchbook, iPad mini, a painting pouch that has her Van Gogh palette, and a waterbrush; her Micron pen, which is waterproof when it dries, perfect for outlining her drawings; a mechanical pencil, and a kneadable eraser, which was recommended by her followers. Since she records herself, she also brings a small tripod for her phone and manually adjusts the angles for her reels.
As part of her process, she talks to the restaurant's owners or staff before doing a painting session and always makes sure she visits during off hours when it isn’t too busy. When asked about some of her favorite moments while filming, she mentioned an interaction she had at a café in Paris when a waiter had come over and admired her work and proceeded to showcase it to all the other staff. But the memorable part about it was how, on her next visit six months later, the waiter had recognized her.
“I painted their hot chocolate and then I went again to paint their macarons. They didn't know I was going but I sat down, I painted, and then the guy was like, I remember you! He brought over some snacks for me, which was really sweet. It was really great to be remembered.”
Having been born and raised in Hong Kong and now living in the Western side of the world, Anna is exposed to a lot of different cultures and flavors.
When asked how it has influenced her art, she replied, “I was fortunate enough to be born and raised in Hong Kong. I moved here only four years ago and then I just built my life here by myself. Back in Hong Kong, I went to an International School, so I was very immersed in a lot of different cultures, which was great. Hong Kong's food scene is so diverse and so rich. It's phenomenal! You can literally have any type of cuisine in one building.”
“And then in New York, I get here and it's the same thing, but the cultures are a little bit different. The diversity is still there, but I think the communities that dominate New York City are a bit different. It's a lot more interesting because Hong Kong is more British-oriented and more European-esque compared to America. So it really shaped me as a creative to be immersed in such diverse cultures; to be able to just hone that into my practice and be super open-minded with both food and how I paint. People say that my style is unique in a way that they can't really pin a style to it. It's not Japanese-looking, but it does have some French influences, but it's not 100% that either. I feel like that also encapsulates me as a person.”
During our conversation we also touched on balancing creating for herself versus creating for an audience and the artist had been candid that she’s still learning to balance everything.
“I'm so grateful to be able to do what I do. I'm still learning how to balance it because I do go through burnout sometimes. But one thing that's helpful for me is to always have a personal project. It's nice to not have to video myself. Sometimes I just want to paint and not stare at my phone. So I think just having something for yourself is so important.”
Anna’s painting escapades and travels also led her to meet other fascinating personalities including Japanese contemporary artist and icon Takashi Murakami who even drew a Shrimp cocktail with her at a dinner she attended.
“I want to get to a point in my career and in my life where I also have that similar community and support of people who appreciate my art and appreciate me as an artist as well,” she said about meeting the legendary artist. “And the way that he did it was so fast and natural. I just found that really inspiring. You can tell that he really loves what he does.”
As for what her advice would be for up-and-coming artists or those hoping to pursue a similar creative path, she said to “take the leap and keep going” despite how terrifying it could be.
“Being nervous is a good thing, because that means that you actually care enough to be nervous. If you’re not afraid to fail, then I don't think it matters that much to you, and you need it to matter that much to you. Every day I get really nervous and that means I'm just so passionate about it. You just have to trust yourself and your intuition. Don't use nervousness or being scared as a way to back out but use it as a way to power through.”
Anna is returning to Paris soon and will stay there for a while to pursue what she calls her “European arc.” She shared her desire to explore more cities there, get in touch with the food scene, and hopefully work with big names like the Michelin guide. She also mentioned how she plans to publish a coffee table book, and explore the world more, especially the culinary scene in Asia.
You can view some of Anna’s art prints for sale on her website or follow her creative journey on Instagram and TikTok.
Enjoyed this article? Check out our previous Artist Spotlight profiles here.
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