Gavin Chai (b. 1997, Malaysia) is based in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau and has a Certificate in Applied Technology (Carpentry) from Unitec Institute of Technology (2016) as well as a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Auckland University of Technology (2020).

Chai captures everyday contemporary experiences through his careful composition and deft treatment of colour, light, and shadow. His detailed paintings of interior and domestic scenes are suffused with a particular psychological or spiritual charge.

He was recently the recipient of the Zinni Douglas Merit award, Walker and Hall Art Award, Waiheke Community Art Gallery (2021) and was the first artist to ever receive three awards at the Cleveland National Art Awards, Otago Art Society (2021). Recent exhibitions include the Adam Portraiture Award Touring Exhibition (2019), Character Study: the figure in action and inaction, Arts in Oxford, Oxford (2019); and Accept each word spoken with love, Northart, Auckland (2019); and Blue and White, Northart, Auckland (2018). His works are held in collections including Porirua City Council, The Stevenson Collection, and the New Zealand Portrait Gallery.

Chai's work featured in Page Galleries' recent group exhibition Idyll.