About Me
Hi, I'm Ariel Chu.
I am a conservation communicator, illustrator, and marine research contributor with a professional background in banking, consulting, and business transformation. After nearly a decade working across global financial institutions and consulting firms, I became increasingly interested in how people, nature, and conservation outcomes can be better connected through communication, engagement, and innovation.
The ocean has been a central part of my life for many years through diving, exploration, and travel. Over time, curiosity evolved into a deeper commitment to marine conservation. This led me beyond observing the underwater world to participating in conservation fieldwork, community engagement, and initiatives that help translate environmental challenges into stories that people can understand and relate to. I'm also a PADI certified rescue scuba diver (over 150+ dives).
Today, my work spans marine wildlife monitoring, conservation communication, visual storytelling, educational workshops, and creative engagement projects. Recent experiences include contributing to marine megafauna monitoring and ecotourism management initiatives with the Large Marine Vertebrates Research Institute Philippines (LAMAVE), as well as developing illustrations and educational materials that support conservation outreach and public understanding.
Looking ahead, I am particularly interested in opportunities at the intersection of conservation, sustainability, technology, and stakeholder engagement, where multidisciplinary perspectives can create meaningful environmental impact.
DeLaMer
"DeLaMer" in French means "of the ocean". DeLaMer Ocean is the platform through which I bring these interests together. Through art, storytelling, field experiences, and community engagement, I explore ways to connect people with the ocean and inspire greater appreciation, understanding, and stewardship of marine ecosystems.
I believe that creation is like diving, a journey of dialogue with the unknown. I hope to bring not only an experience of beauty, but also a spirit of exploration and yearning for freedom. Perhaps an illustration will remind you of a journey, or you can find yourself in your daily life, or feel the thrill of discovering a new world. These small resonances are the original intention of my creation.
Start of The Journey
In 2019, I was browsing in a bookstore in Causeway Bay. There was a book, called Psychotherapy from Carl Jung, that caught my attention. I brought it home and started to read. The content was very profound, primitive, spiritual, and abstruse, which was fascinating and mind-blowing, at least for me. I was lucky to travel a lot during my adolescence for different opportunities and lived in different countries in the outer world. But when I found this book. it was the start of this journey to my inner world, both consciousness and subconscious.
In the period of Carl Jung (1920s), psychology was very experimental and clinical. There were many experiments to approach psychotherapy, including interpretation of dreams, counselling therapy, and "art therapy". He explained that art is not only meditating and relaxing, but provide a contained ritualistic space for detailed expression and reflection. He used creation to develop a dialogue between his mind and himself, and taps into an unconscious collective that can point toward inner wholeness, thought and spirituality.
And yes, that's why I started painting. I was curious and eager to explore the connection of my mind and inner self.
Past Events and Community Engagement
