Christina Chung is an illustrator currently living and working in Brooklyn, New York. Her works are a blend of both traditional and digital media held together by a line and pattern-based style. Her work is sensitive, delicate and infused with symbolism.
Christina spent her childhood blackberry-picking and pirouetting in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, her summers in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and her angst-filled adolescent years in the hot and sweaty melting-pot known as Singapore.
She has since left her island city home of 7 years and has recently graduated from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York with a BFA in Communications Design with a concentration in Illustration.
She likes cats, coffee, Earl Grey tea, making to-do lists, devouring books, the smell of lavender and she somehow left her heart in Taipei.
To learn more about Christina or to see more of her amazing work,
follow any of the links below:
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…and now for our exclusive interview with Christina Chung
How would you describe your art?
My work is an expression of my imagination. Beyond that, my work is very line and pattern-based and inspired by nature, East Asian culture, religious iconography, and folk art.
How long have you been an artist and how did you become an artist?
I’ve always loved art, but for me, it was my choice to go to an art school for college that set me on the path to becoming an illustrator.
What is your favorite medium and why?
My favorite medium is ink. It’s versatile, elegant and unforgiving.
Pick one work of art from your portfolio and tell us the story behind it. What does this piece mean to you? What steps did you take to create the piece?
One of my favorite recent works is titled ‘Chapter 1’. It’s part of a series on Chinese folktales that I finished not long ago. The series focuses on folktales that were read to me as a child before bed. My family owned a collection of Chinese folktales beautifully illustrated as children’s books that always held a special place in my memory and are still on the bookshelf of my old room in my parents’ home. ‘Chapter 1’ is inspired by the story of Nüwa, a goddess who both sculpted humankind out of clay and subsequently saves them from disaster. This piece is particularly meaningful to me not only because of the significance of this story from my childhood but also because it is one of my favorite pieces from my last semester at the Pratt Institute. It definitely took a few tries to get it to a place where I was satisfied with it. For this piece, I used ink and graphite to create the line and shading, after which I took it into Adobe Photoshop to color and add texture.
If you could imagine the “perfect art day” for yourself, what would it be like?
It would probably consist of waking up early to get a head start on a productive day of work, and taking a lunch break at a café with a window seat where I can do some observational sketching.
If you could spend 24 hours with one artist, living or historical, who would you want to spend the day with and why? What would the two of you do?
I would love to get a coffee with Alphonse Mucha. I am constantly inspired by the beauty, timelessness, and versatility of his work, and would love to hear him talk about it and about what it was like to live in the Golden Age of illustration.
Do you have any tips or advice for aspiring artists?
Be fearless. If you have the passion, go for it. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, don’t be afraid to ask for help and don’t be afraid of failure. Stay driven, and make a lot of work.
Great Work ! So imaginative and beautifully done in all its nuances.
Delicate, yet strong and oh so evocative!