REFLECTIONS OF A ROOM: ARTIST ABIGAIL CHANG
Abigail Chang's first solo exhibition at Volume Gallery in Chicago features reflective glass and felt objects that use familiar proportions borrowed from everyday mirrors—cosmetic, full-length, rear-view, safety. The hybrid mirror/windows were inspired by the transition of a window from day to night. The work examines reflection as a contemporary condition of viewing, reminding us to notice the ubiquitous reflective surfaces in our daily lives.
Prior to starting her practice, she worked in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Basel, and Tokyo at architecture and landscape architecture firms including Norman Kelley, SO – IL, and Herzog & de Meuron. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, with distinction, and a Master’s in Architecture from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, where she was awarded the Takenaka Fellowship.
I’m a designer and educator from Los Angeles and based in Chicago. My practice examines subtle encounters that come from material details and is framed by currents in contemporary culture. I have been researching windows and screens alongside qualities like transparency, blurriness, reflection and flatness. I work across scales from performance and exhibition, to buildings, interiors and objects.
Tell us about your greatest inspirations or influences please.
For me, traveling and working in different contexts is an exciting way to exchange ideas. I previously worked at architecture firms across the US and abroad in Tokyo and Basel, and these experiences impacted the way I practice and think. I also look closely at the everyday, at things and places that are familiar to distill ideas.
How are the current trends in technology and innovation affecting your work as a creative?
I am interested in how technology has impacted our daily life. For example, I have been writing about our reliance on screens and how screens are found everywhere in and outside our homes. I did a project for the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism called “Skeuomorphic Screens” that expands on this idea.
We’d love to hear more about your creative process.
My background is in architecture so I test ideas through 1:1 building fragments like installations and objects. Miniature models and photography are important to my design process and I sometimes start here without knowing what I will do next. I don’t think there is ever a point when something feels finished.
What do you think of the art world and how it works in general?
In architecture, there is certainly a continuous state of change, but there are also some parts that remain the same. There has been a shift in the way we practice and teach, but fundamentally the questions we ask haven’t changed.
Anything coming up that we should know about?
I am working on a solo exhibition at Volume Gallery in Chicago, which will be on view from June 24th to August 13th, 2022.
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