Artists
Photo Credit: NIU Chun-Chiang
CHUNG Yen-Ting
CHUNG Yen-Ting
| Location | USA / Los Angeles |
|---|---|
| Residency | 18th Street Arts Center |
| Year of the Grant | 2011 |
| Work | Secret Garden (series) Chain Letter (exhibition) |
| Personal Website | CHUNG Yen-Ting's Personal Website |
Artist Statement:
I create my own anthropomorphic creatures. I metamorphize my inner thoughts through these creatures’ actions. By illustrating and portraying these unknown creatures, I am able to express a certain personal and instinctual mythology. Every piece of my work is an exploration and authentication regarding animalistic and humanistic qualities. Furthermore, it implies the intersection and layering of inside and outside worlds.
18th Street Arts Center is located in Santa Monica, Western Los Angeles. It is a spacious city with an abundance of sunlight and a different city atmosphere: eagles circle the sky, while crows and succulent plants spawn in the desert. It is a city with cacti, houseleeks, open oceans, seagulls, night skies full of stars, and empty football fields. The mixture of the dry climate and the city’s beautiful views have become poetic inspirations for my work. Living in such a bright environment, I made work that was warm and radiant, no longer fighting with the darkness and crowdedness found in most cities.
During my three-month residency, I learned how local communities worked closely with artists and galleries to organize exhibitions. The public enthusiastically participated in the monthly Los Angeles Art Walk and open studio events at the 18th Street Arts Center. Los Angeles was full of energy for the arts, and the exchange between artists and locals were frequent. During my residency, I was invited to show my work in local galleries and experienced various cultural exchanges through open studios. Additional opportunities to visit museums and exhibitions, as well as learn about the city’s graffiti art allowed me to consider different ways of creating and understand the realities of multiculturalism.