Chen KeZhan’s art is said to straddle both Western and Chinese painting. Chen paints with Chinese ink and pigments on paper to produce semi-abstract, emotive expressions of natural phenomena. His works evoke a sense of beauty, with the use of colour and multiple textured brushstrokes.

Dark Autumn is painted using Chen's signature pigment colours of ochre, red, and blue. A covering of black dry-brush strokes simulate falling autumn leaves and the long evenings of the season. Autumn's deep colours are celebrated through a sombre dirge. Chen uses a square format for this painting which allows an even distribution of colour with varied accents in this visual 'colour poem'.  

Several of Chen’s works are in the Singtel collection, including the Garden Series (2005), Heliconias (2004), a pair of Autumn series works (2011), and Autumn (2014).