CHANG YA CHIN
Different Still, Same Life
Opening Reception: June 22nd, 6-8 PM
June 23rd - July 20th, 2022
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At first blush it might be hard to tell, but each Ya Chin painting is actually painted from real life. Scouring the internet and vintage shops in Hong Kong, she finds a miniature bugle here - perhaps instrumentation from a fallen toy soldier - or a misplaced backpack meant to accessorize a cartoon doll there. Irrespective of its sourcing, these objects lend her work a particular credulity the artist counts on in the face of some absurd juxtapositions. Take the chimney full of popcorn, for instance. Why should it be reserved only for the improbability of Santa’s arrival? Logically and scalewise it makes no sense - this abundance of popped corn - and yet emotionally the scene registers, even gratifies the eye. We feel sorry for the intact cornel robbed of its potential to display at full volume.
Ya Chin’s shrunken world, while echoing Chardin or Morandi, resolves itself with an architecture of flourishes uniquely hers, this fixation on dumplings as a recurring character. The terra-cotta warrior dressed like a tourist: hilarious as it is astute. And fruit, fruit, fruit: everywhere pears on tightropes, lemons making merry, some atop skateboards and oranges painting self-portraits. The personifications feel more endearing somehow on a harvest yet to be bruised or bitten.
Chang Ya Chin (b. 1985, Hong Kong) lives and works in her hometown Hong Kong and New York City. Trained in the academic classical tradition at academies in Florence, Paris and New York City, she now works in a variety of mediums including oil paint, graphite and pixels. Ya Chin is inspired by everyday objects, moments and the mash of cultures around her. Her work is often presented within juxtapositions centered around the interaction of the physical world, conceptual and her inner world. She has exhibited at Nathalie Karg, New York; Half Gallery, Los Angeles and Spring/Break Art Show. This is her first solo exhibition in New York.
