John Chang China

Born and raised in Shanghai, China. John Chang is an artist based in Los Angeles City. John's works have been widely exhibited, including Kauffman Gallery at Shippensburg University, Porter Square Gallery at Art Institute of Boston, Communication Arts Gallery at University of Wisconsin Parkside, Dana Hall Gallery at Wellesley. Chang's work has been featured in various publications such as Pasadena Star news, KTLA. John Chang is a recipient of The Artist-in-Residence grant 2004 from Vermont Studio Center. John Chang holds an MFA in Visual Art, and he studied under Mr. Xu Bing, Ms. Judith Barry, and Deborah Aschheim from the Art Institute of Boston. He also earned a BA in Decorative Arts and Design from Shanghai Light Industry College.

Statement: My cultural identity, which was shaped in part by the period of time when I lived with my family in China in the 1980s, includes a deep sense of change. The nature of change as a way of being and living is at the forefront of my work. In an effort to explore this relationship further, I have sought to focus on one aspect of change, that which occurs between word and image. I am especially interested in the ways in which language and image may change meaning, particularly in this age of digital media. The theme of my work, then, is the relationship between language and its environment, an investigation into the ways and strategies for making and unmaking meaning at the intersection of word and image, the boon and poison of time and technology as they enhance or interfere with communication. My work expresses my cultural milieu in a context of hope: from the beauty of traditional painting techniques to the search for meaning in digital media. By blending cultures, aesthetics, and media that are common to East and West, I am discovering an imagery that is uniquely my own.