Based on close examinations, Chang Ya Chin’s compositions are modestly scaled and serene, featuring contemporary objects depicted in the traditional methods and techniques of still life. Chang renders the objects tangible and verisimilar on canvas by studying the distinctly textured objects—a group of pears, a bugle, a bowl of rice, or a game of Tetris—and effectively “casting” them as actors and performers.

In “These Things”, her first exhibition with Kiang Malingue in Hong Kong in 2024, Chang presented more than a dozen small-scale paintings that feature regionally specific cuisines, drinks, and sweets, telling microcosmic stories that are either whimsical or fabulous in essence. Teamwork: Har Gows Rowing (2023) pictures three har gows rowing haphazardly in a tiny dragon boat atop a stand. The absurd ambience of the scene and the artist’s emphasis on chiaroscuro lends credibility to the painting—a miniature dragon boat suspended in a waterless interior environment naturally calls for undersized, non-human athletes. Dive: Dumplings, Black Vinegar (2024) also plays with the thrill associated with heights, and the notion of sportsmanship: plump dumplings climb up a slim ladder in a row, preparing themselves on a platform before jumping into a bowl of black vinegar. In various scenarios and against similarly neutral, sombre backgrounds, Chang’s non-human subjects reflect on the significance of gravity and depth, and the various possibilities of falling: the gracefully peeled Lychee on a swing (2023) has seemingly fallen unconscious; one of the sauce bottles in Dai Pai Dong, Sauces, Good Friends (2023) is drunkenly tipped over; the excessively shallow architecture in Bridge: Tea Egg, Suitcase (2023) barely offers enough room for the eggs, thereby also anticipating a dramatic fall. In another series of recent works, Chang has introduced natural elements such as delicate flowers and soft leaves—Koala’s Marching: Peach Blossoms (2024) or Grow (1): Orchid, Laoganma Chili Sauce (2023) are examples among others—further complicating the artist’s reflection on life and agency intertwined in the relationship between natural objects and man-made products.

Chang’s paintings abound with wondrous narrative potentials, yet she avoids assuming a commanding role as the narratives unfold. Rather, she lets them evolve and take shape as they engage the audience’s own urge to narrate. In her notes, she has begged curious questions about the nature of the depicted objects: “They’re sentient… It’s up to them, or is it? How much is dictated by the world around them, that logic/culture/society… How much agency do the objects have/do we have?” Chang’s painting practice is motivated by an affinity with animism, and questions regarding one’s identity as a world-maker.

Chang Ya Chin (b. 1985 Hong Kong) lives and works in her hometown Hong Kong, New York City and Austin, Texas. She was trained in the academic tradition at ateliers in Florence, Paris and New York City. Her recent exhibitions include: Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong (2024); Half Gallery, Los Angeles (2024), Half Gallery, New York (2022).