Peter Chang (jewelry artist)
Encyclopedia
Peter Chang is a British artist who works in silicone. His artwork primarily takes the form of jewellery. Chang's work had attention to detail and bright colors.
and sculpture at the Liverpool College of Art
Chang worked in Paris working under the printmaker Stanley William Hayter
.
He is inspired by different types of marine life, such as coral.
Peter combines jewellery with elements of sculpture to produce complex brightly coloured pieces which can be worn or can simply exist as objects in their own right.
He uses various coloured plastics, such as acrylic and PVC, to create his jewellery and furniture, and is influenced by nature and organic forms.
He trained at Liverpool College of Art and Slade School of Fine Art in London studying sculpture and printmaking.
s into his pieces. Many of Chang's earlier plastic pieces were made entirely of recycled plastics.
and the Smithsonian Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum as well as numerous public and private collections, including the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Since 1966 he has exhibited across the world including Paris, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Prague, Venice, Japan, Montreal, South Korea, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and San Francisco, as well as across the UK.
He was the joint winner of the Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts in 1995, received a Creative Scotland Award from the Scottish Arts Council in 2000 and won the Herbert Hofmann Preis, Munich in 2003.
Biography
Chang was born to a British mother and a Chinese father in 1944. He was raised in Liverpool and at age 13 began attending the Liverpool Secondary School of Art. Upon completing his degrees in graphic designGraphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
and sculpture at the Liverpool College of Art
Liverpool College of Art
Liverpool College of Art is located at 68 Hope Street, in Liverpool, England. It is a Grade II listed building.The building is currently owned by Liverpool John Moores University housing its School of Social Science....
Chang worked in Paris working under the printmaker Stanley William Hayter
Stanley William Hayter
Stanley William Hayter , CBE was a British painter and printmaker associated in the 1930s with Surrealism and from 1940 onward with Abstract Expressionism. Regarded as one of the most significant printmakers of the 20th century, in 1927 Hayter founded the legendary Atelier 17 studio in Paris...
.
Influences
Chang cites his Asian heritage as a theme in his artwork. He uses the balance of good and evil in his Frankensteinian/sci-fi forms. Many of the surrealist pieces he encountered working under Hayter at Atelier 17 had an influence on Chang's work. His organic style reflects marine life with their colours and alien form.He is inspired by different types of marine life, such as coral.
Peter combines jewellery with elements of sculpture to produce complex brightly coloured pieces which can be worn or can simply exist as objects in their own right.
He uses various coloured plastics, such as acrylic and PVC, to create his jewellery and furniture, and is influenced by nature and organic forms.
He trained at Liverpool College of Art and Slade School of Fine Art in London studying sculpture and printmaking.
Artwork
Chang uses a variety of methods to achieve the bright colours and bizarre shapes in his plastic artwork. He starts with either a foam or wood base and uses a layer of polyester resin mixed with fiberglass for structural stability. He then layers acrylic over his pieces to incorporate the bright colors and finished with a transparent layer of varnish. He varies these steps carving and cutting away the acrylic for different results. He incorporates many found objectFound object
A found object, in an artistic sense, indicates the use of an object which has not been designed for an artistic purpose, but which exists for another purpose already. Found objects may exist either as utilitarian, manufactured items, or things which occur in nature...
s into his pieces. Many of Chang's earlier plastic pieces were made entirely of recycled plastics.
International Recognition
His work has been purchased by museum collections around the world such as the Victoria and Albert museumVictoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
and the Smithsonian Cooper–Hewitt, National Design Museum as well as numerous public and private collections, including the National Museums of Scotland in Edinburgh.
Since 1966 he has exhibited across the world including Paris, Munich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Prague, Venice, Japan, Montreal, South Korea, Philadelphia, Boston, New York and San Francisco, as well as across the UK.
He was the joint winner of the Jerwood Prize for Applied Arts in 1995, received a Creative Scotland Award from the Scottish Arts Council in 2000 and won the Herbert Hofmann Preis, Munich in 2003.