Common Treasure

Across the various formats and diverse mediums he employs, Chiang’s artistic practice is an echo of his personal experiences – where the East and the West find themselves in a continuous dialogue with each other. As an artist, he strives to visualise the fragments of his life and process them by recomposing these fragment-like realities through his artworks. In this set of paintings, Chiang retains blanks, gaps, and imperfections, leaving behind an open composition that invites viewers to amalgamate their own experiences with the works, in order to complete the work.

Moreover, animals often populate and become protagonists of his paintings, personifying values of honesty and simplicity. Chiang finds the eyes of the animals particularly arresting, since they mirror an inner-being that neither intends to hide its desires nor has calculative intentions at heart.

The paintings by Chiang are therefore envisioned to act as reminders for human beings (who share many affinities with animals) to inculcate a sincere view towards life, where the need of a being to curb its desires—often deemed excessive—is reworked.

- DEMOS CHIANG