Today we’d like to introduce you to Christina Chang.
Christina, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I grew up in a family of artists. My father is an architect, my mother an interior design with a multitude of talents, sewer, knitter, weaver and painter and brother is an actor and filmmaker. I grew up visiting art museums, galleries and watching my father look up and analyze the materials used every time we entered a building. Someone was always creating something in our house, a weaving, writing a script or building something. I also grew up in a biracial family. My father is from Shanghai and my mom is Italian American. Everything in our household was about food, art, design, passion, and culture.
I always knew that I would be an artist- without a doubt. My great uncle was a Fashion Designer in Manhattan for decades. I used to visit his garden apartment which was artfully decorated. Over his bed, a wall of his drawings hung that he created in art school. When I was 11 years old my mom found me standing on his bed closely examining his drawings, my mother asked if I wanted to take art lessons. I enthusiastically agreed. I then took many years of classical drawing and painting with a strong traditional art teacher in her basement studio. She taught me the foundation of drawing and painting and these are skills I still use today.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
Color, light, energy, and movement all come to mind when thinking about why I create art. It is a nonverbal and kinesthetic experience that is difficult to apply words to. I always have ideas for new paintings in my head that want to come out. The desire to create and paint is their everyday.
I simply love paint. I love mixing paint, squishing it with my brush, challenging myself to come up with new color combinations and apply it to the canvas surface. I find it mesmerizing. It feeds my soul when I paint.
I have a traditional painting background that has influenced my artwork. Whether I am painting a still life, landscape or abstract piece I apply the same technical skill with my work. I studied with many wonderful artists and learned a tremendous amount from them. My art has changed throughout the years. I have an undergraduate degree in painting from Texas Christian University and a Masters of Teaching from Rhode Island School of Design. I studied painting in Texas, Florence, Italy, and Santa Fe. After college, I was really discovering who I was and my art dealt with Asian American stereotypes.
The foundation of my work as always been a love for painting. I also created lots of art alongside my mentor Arnie Casavant. I studied with him for many years and improved my plein air and landscape painting skills. I then headed back to the studio and my newer work developed into abstract painting.
I’m also a proud mom of two delightful children who mean everything to me. I wanted to show them the beauty of the world around me. My work developed and changed again with motherhood. My work became less about delivering a message as it is about creating beauty with paint. Motherhood influenced my art in profound ways.
When I complete a painting it feels so satisfying to bring something to life that did not exist before with my own two hands. I recently created a series of colorful abstract and landscape paintings that range in sizes from 8” x 10” to 18” x 24” oils on canvas. I enjoy working on a small intimate scale and can see these works lighting up a shelf in someone’s home or an intimate wall space. I hope that the work brings beauty into this complicated world. My colorful abstract paintings are influenced by Richard Diebenkorn, Edward Hopper, and Helen Frankenthaler. I love studying their work and how they mixed, layered paint and captured light.
I feel like I am always learning and have so many more paintings to create in my lifetime. I wake up every day knowing that I am here on earth to do two things, raise two happy healthy children and create art.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
For me it’s always being inquisitive, thinking creatively and in new ways and challenging and pushing myself to create more work.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Instagram has been a great avenue for me to share my work. It’s been a big learning curve for me but I love connecting with others. Through Instagram, I connected with the artists of Hear Me Roar. It is a group of lovely female Boston artists. I have a show with them on Sunday, June 17 at Bantam Cider, from 12-4pm.
Contact Info:
- Website: christinachangart.com
- Email: christina@christinachangart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christinachang_art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christinachangstudio
Image Credit:
Portraits by Lexi Photography
https://lexiphotography.com/
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