Ching Ching Cheng vintage camera sculptures

Ching Ching Cheng moved from Taiwan to Los Angeles in 2003 where she earned a BFA from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Cheng’s works register the traces that memory and desire leave on objects as they are transformed and translated by time and movement across cultures. Cheng has a deep fascination with the way certain mechanical objects act as a continuation of personal identity and of the body. She sees the human form, as she puts it, “as an incredible machine.” In addition to her watercolor engine series, this theme is present in a series of small-scale sculptures Cheng has made of vintage cameras. These cameras are each constructed with meticulous care, using found books and maps. Cheng observes that,

“Our brain is like a cognitive camera, and each blink of the eye captures a fragment of a memory.”

Cheng describes her work by saying,

“I always put myself in the situation to make the subject matter more personal to me, so my work gives an intimate and personal account of my own exper­iences, while simultaneously encouraging the viewer to recall their own. My work is symbolic and conceptual. I present subject matter outside the self from this psychological position. The subject matter that influences and inspires my work the most comes from psychology and nature. The ways people deal with situations are very different from one another, and I find this very special and interesting. I challenge myself through drawing, solving problems and difficult ideas. Most of my work is mixed media using ink, watercolor, gouache, and acrylic. I work digitally and traditionally as well as three dimensionally, and like to experiment with different techniques and mediums. The color of my work is very subtle, and quiet.”.

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