Henry Hung Chang

Artist Bio Heading link

Henry wearing glasses with white t-shirt and white background.

Henry Hung Chang (b. 1989, Taipei, Taiwan) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. His work explores queer identity through a celebration of the rich imagery in Asian folk religion and classical literature.

Chang received his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, and studied Illustration at School of Visual Arts in New York. His work has received Winner for AI-AP American Illustration 38, and has been published at The Advocate magazine, DRECK magazine and Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology. Recent exhibitions include Spaced Out, YUI Gallery, New York (2019, two-person); Masculine Collusion, the Leslie-Lohman Museum Project Space, New York (2019); Connection IV, Atlantic Gallery, New York (2019); and more.

Featured Artwork Heading link

A blue figure rests beside a body of water holding a lotus leaf. There is a sculpture of a head floating on the water besides the figure. On the sculpture stands a three-legged bird. Its one leg grabs bamboo flowers. On the other side of the blue figure, there is a bell. A hand holding a lotus flower emerges from the water. Another figure sits in the background on a bamboo culm appearing from the water, and beads pearl-like seeds into belts. The culm is engraved with Mandarin manuscripts. There are giant lotus plants behind them. Both figures and the bird wear a beak-like mask. Further in the background, there is a headless figure making Varadamudra gesture, which symbolizes compassion and boon-granting. The color of the sky progresses from blue to warm red.

Title: When Bamboo Flowers
Dimension: 18”x22″
Medium: Watercolor and Gesso on Paper

Lotus plants are woven into a shape of a circle. Koi fish and Cicadas are hidden among the plants. Two figures are sitting in a meditating position in the middle of the image. They hold and raise one another’s hand; wrists hanging at eye-level. One figure is the color of violet and the other is light blue. There is a stem growing into one figure’s chest cavity from the side of their body. Both figures are sealed with a spell on their chest. With their second hand, each figure holds a budding lotus flower. One Lotus appears to be double-floored (chongtai 重台), which happens when the pistil of the flower grow into another flower.

Title: Roundness
Dimension: 18”x18″
Medium: watercolor and paper cutout collage