DAVID CHANG


ARTIST BIO & STATEMENT

Born in Seoul, Korea, in 1971, David Chang is a renowned artist who has pursued the art of western calligraphy for the past 20 years. His masterful study of calligraphy is driven by a passion for "bringing the essence of a word or message to life" through physical gestures. Chang's calligraphic mark —vacillating between traditional scripts and contemporary abstraction— issues statements of personal, cultural, and spiritual awareness while retaining a formal beauty full of urgency and grace. Centuries-old eastern techniques in calligraphy find new form in the western alphabet as the artist shapes his own hermeneutics of the hand. 

David was first introduced to the rhythm and art of writing through Spencerian penmanship, and his work has since appeared in numerous shows and institutions, including Onishi Gallery, Waterfall Mansion and Gallery, Clemente Soto Velez Center, Pratt Institute, Calvary Saint George’s, and the Society of Scribes at the National Arts Club.  Notably, his calligraphy has also been prominently featured in the internationally acclaimed film Mother! (2017). David showcases his calligraphy artworks while conducting workshops worldwide, sharing the meditative art of calligraphy.

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David Chang works loosely on paper using calligraphy in a deeply intuitive manner to express the regenerative nature of conscious moments in writing. His continuous exploration aims to evoke the balance between words and visual depictions. Chang spends time praying prior to his creations to forge a space where there is presence or an encounter with the eternal. In these encounters, the artist is able to reveal messages and stories of divinity and ultimately the true nature of selfless love behind the scriptures he meditates with.

Chang found calligraphy as a reconciliation with his Korean-American identity growing up in the United States. His influences are found in the Chinese Traditions and methodology of calligraphy, where writing was informed by the different sites in which meditative states could take place. Changs ultimate process lends him accessibility to transmute and encounter from being available to create in a state of presence.
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