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Untraditional. Bold. Bright. Playful. These are just some of the words to describe the current artwork inside of the Doña Ana Arts Council Gallery.
On Friday, June 6, people drifted around the gallery, gazing at prints, paintings, ceramic sculptures and mugs.
One funky, brightly colored pair of pants stood out in the crowd. It was immigrant artist Chiung Fang Chang, sporting her artwork for the premier of her solo exhibition “Little Theaters of the Heart,” at the council’s gallery.
Born and raised in Taiwan, Chang found interest in the arts in high school and her training mostly focused on a traditional, realistic style.
It wasn’t until she discovered Jean-Michel Basquiat and his free-spirited artmaking process that she realized art can be more than the lens she had been taught to view it through.
She told the Bulletin she decided, "I don’t want to do [traditional art] anymore. This is not me.”
It was around two years ago that she moved to the United States, spending only a year in Arizona before moving to Las Cruces.
Chang took the initiative to reach out to Natalia Martinez, the gallery’s manager and curator of the exhibition, and thus began the 8-month process of planning her showcase.
“I think Las Cruces has a lot of room to grow within the arts,” Martinez said. “Chiung is bringing a completely different abstract style than what you see in the Southwest. I think it’s important to encourage that ... Just a different version of creating or being creative.”
Her art, which used to be more abstract, now is filled with layers of popping colors and figures like cartoonish creatures and cacti.
The cacti represent her quiet time in Arizona’s nature, while the creatures reflect the many people she’d encounter in the bustling night markets of Taiwan.
“[In Taiwan], when I started painting, all of these things already came to my mind –– I didn’t need to look for the material,” Chang said. “But here, I open my mind and there’s nothing.”
This switch to a slower-paced life made her anxious and, when she would go on hikes to unwind, she’d feel as though the cacti were talking to her.
“I started thinking, ‘Why can cacti live so well but I can’t?’” Chang said. “I had this illusion they were talking to me, and they were laughing at me saying, ‘Hey! Wake up! You are not going back to your comfort zone. You are here.’”
In fact, her favorite piece of the whole exhibit was a print of cacti that appeared to be animated. She laughed and said normally people don’t like it.
About 10 minutes later, two young women marveled at the same work.
According to Chang, printing is a long process that forces her to slow down and plan her work. This, in turn, has made her a better painter, which she described as an emotional process where she is free to make mistakes.
Chang sees herself continuing this form of expression as she adjusts to life in the United States and art free from the confines of tradition.
“I want people to feel happy and energy from my work,” Chang said. “I’m looking for that side of me to be pure and be like kids –– they don’t think too much. Imagination can kill you if you think too much.”
For those who were unable to attend the opening reception, the exhibition will be displayed until August 1. Admission is free and open to the public.
