Details:
① Artwork:
天狗
In this painting, the artist has depicted a creature from Japanese folklore called the Tengu. The beast, once known as a harbinger of war, is commonly given bird or monkey characteristics. However, its name directly translates to “heavenly dog” in English, so the artist painted it literally—as a dog floating among embroidered clouds and a glowing sun.
Jia Sung’s practice spans painting, artist books and printmaking. Inspired by Chinese historical textiles and feminized labor traditions, Sung uses the familiar visual language of folklore to examine and subvert conventional archetypes. In her paintings, supernatural, monstrous, and spiritual figures that are part human and part animal playact domestic and social roles while attempting to assimilate.
Specs:
③ Artist:
Jia Sung is an artist and educator whose practice spans painting, artist books, textiles, and printmaking. Inspired by Chinese historical textiles and the traditions of feminized labor, her work combines tapestries, embroidering, and beadwork with painting. Drawing on motifs from Chinese mythology and Buddhist iconography, Sung uses the familiar visual language of folklore to examine and subvert conventional archetypes of femininity, queerness and otherness. Her approach pulls from the Chinese zhiguai tradition of ‘strange tales,’ where the supernatural, monstrous, and spiritual combine, and figures that are part human and part animal playact domestic and social roles while attempting to assimilate.
Jia Sung was born in Minnesota and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. She earned her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI (2015).
She has had her work featured in group shows, including The Ripening at Pen + Brush in New York City, NY (2023); circular ruins at island in New York City, NY (2022); Three-legged Crow at LATITUDE Gallery in New York City, NY (2022); inherit at island in New York City, NY (2019); and No Place Like at Field Projects in New York City, NY (2019).
Her work has been published in The Paris Review, Emergence Magazine, Hyperallergic, Jacobin Magazine, and Asian American Writers Workshop.
Sung was also awarded a Smack Mellon Artist Studio (2018-2019) and a Van Lier Fellowship via Asian American Artist Alliance (2018-2019).
In this painting, the artist has depicted a creature from Japanese folklore called the "Tengu." The beast, once known as a harbinger of war, is commonly given bird or monkey characteristics. However, its name directly translates to “heavenly dog” in English, so the artist painted it literally—as a dog floating among embroidered clouds and a glowing sun.More
- Unframed
