JULIE W CHANG

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.