Julia Chiang (b. 1978 Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is known for her detailed paintings which take flat-colour backgrounds as a setting for an intricate web of shapes and forms, flowing in converging directions and carefully constructed through layers of paint. From an initial viewing the compositions seemingly give off the appearance of a uniform execution but upon closer study reveals the differences in transparency and definition, and at times the presence of uncertainty and chance in the painterly process.
The repetition of pointed ellipses are a prominent feature in Chiang’s paintings, occupying the expanse of flat colour and creating a sense of movement, a channel of energy. Underneath, large forms appear to guide and gather the flow; or layered on top they loom above, threatening to encroach and disturb the serene pattern. The strive for pattern continuity, the ambiguity between containment and expansion, pushing between shapes and directions are reminiscent of the pushing of physical and emotional boundaries Chiang contemplates within her visual language.
Selected solo exhibitions include: Salt On Our Skin, Nicola Vassell Gallery (opening Jan 12, 2023), Holding My Breath Moving Closer Closer, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2020), Tennis Elbow, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn (2020); Pump And Bump, Nanzuka, Tokyo (2019); Spit Sweat Shhh, The Modern Institute, Glasgow (2019); among others. Recent group exhibitions include: Space Forgets You, Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh (2022), The Groupers, Broadway Gallery, New York (2021), Spring/Break Art Show, Skylight at Moynihan Station, New York (2015); among others.
RxART is proud to be working with Julia on a project for the new Nappi Wellness Institute at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse, NY. Previously, Julia was one of the artists to create a unique project for RxART’s Arts Education initiative, bringing arts engagement to patients at St. Mary’s Hospital for Children in 2015. Her work is also featured in our Coloring Book Between the Lines, Vol. 4.