WHO
Chang Ya Chin

WHAT
This solo exhibition of over a dozen paintings by the Taiwan-born Hong Kong-based artist showcases small-scale detailed still life paintings, featuring regional cuisines, drinks, and sweets, each telling a microcosmic story that is either whimsical or self-referential. The paintings explore themes of gravity, depth, and falling, and the artist also incorporates self-referentiality in her works, with one painting serving as a distorted self-portrait.

WHY
Having received rigorous training in academic and classical traditions, Chang makes modestly-sized, placid compositions in which contemporary objects are in contrast with traditional methods and techniques of still life. Painted from real life, she closely studies the distinctly textured objects – effectively casting the objects as lead characters – before rendering them tangible and verisimilar on canvas.