John Chang, an MFA in Visual Arts graduate, is a rare example of someone who personifies his own advice. This is unsurprising from a dedicated and tireless artist who is no stranger to hard work. Working in painting, mixed media, photography, as well as installation artwork, Chang admits to sacrificing vacations and days off since graduating to make a life as an artist. Despite a thoroughly busy schedule, Chang graciously offered a look behind the scenes at his process and passion for the work he does every day.
Formative years and inspiration
This impressive work ethic might have roots in the fact that Chang wanted to be an artist, though of a different sort, from an early age. Originally intent on becoming a musician and following his mother's example, the Shanghai-born and southern California-based artist turned to drawing instead. Limited financially and socially while growing up during the Cultural Revolution, a path toward music was not an option. Drawing, however, was, and consequently became a medium in which Chang "found my artistic voice."
Chang's voice, shaped and molded by his upbringing in China, also forged new layers upon living in and familiarizing himself with American culture. Chang's work visualizes the in-between feeling of belonging to both cultures and yet somehow neither through a focus on change and transition. "My cultural identity, which was shaped in part by the period of time when I lived with my family in China, includes a deep sense of change. The nature of change as a way of being and living is at the forefront of my work."