Henry Hung Chang’s watercolor paintings reimagine symbols and motifs in Asian folk religion and classical literature to contemplate queer identity. Born and raised in a temple in Taiwan founded by his grandparents, religious practice was central to Chang’s childhood. He found comfort in the folktales of East Asian religions, specifically in forming his queer identity and, later, his artistic practice. His work ponders contemporary queer issues through an outsider lens and a pictorial approach that is often anti-narrative and non-chronological, with space rather than linear timelines connecting his stories. In his work, Chang dresses his figures anonymously or in masks to embody a range of deities while repurposing imagery from folktales and classical literature to explore the complexities of his contemporary queer experience.

Henry Hung Chang was born in 1989 in Taipei, Taiwan, and lives in Brooklyn, NY. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design from the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan (2012) and studied Illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York, NY.

Chang has exhibited his work in a two-person exhibition, curated by Qiaoyi Shi, at YUI Gallery in New York, NY; the Leslie-Lohman Museum Project Space in New York, NY; and the University of Illinois Chicago in Chicago, IL.

Chang has won an AI-AP American Illustration award, and his work has been published in The Advocate and GAYLETTER.