Chang, Julie W

Introduction

Julie W. Chang is a San Francisco based contemporary artist whose work investigates how identities are constructed and how (mis)understandings of both self and other might be resisted, subverted, and reimagined. Her paintings use ancient and contemporary cultural symbols to make visible hidden histories and illustrate the cultural hybridity inherent in the world. Her debut exhibition with Alisan Fine Arts features works from two series that draw from familiar visual sources like the Chinese symbol for double happiness, the Sanskrit character for AUM, a symbol of the divine in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, alongside less prevalent sources including African mud cloth, Japanese shibori and Native American basket weavings. Migration I, II and III, for example, take their cue from the visual and technical components of weaving. Geometric forms float across the nearly monochromatic compositions—twinkling diamond forms and other patterns at times connecting and overlapping. Incorporating resin, Chang’s Talisman series are dazzling paintings composed of intricate and colorful layers. Fusing symbols of healing, wisdom, redemption, joy, enlightenment, interdependence and peace, the works are compendiums of goodwill. 

Chang received her MFA from Stanford University in 2007, her BA in Sociology from Tufts University and her BFA in Studio Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in 1999. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including the San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Jose Museum of Art, Stanford University, Transformer Gallery in Washington DC, Montserrat College of Art, Tulane University, Iowa State University and Yeditepe University in Istanbul. She was a recipient of the 2004 Murphy Cadogan Award, 2007 Headlands Center for the Arts MFA Studio Award.

Light, Space and Time at Alisan Fine Arts-New York in 2024 is the gallery’s first time working with the artist.