Joseph Chiang
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Printmaking Artist
Having studied Product Design, Joseph started making prints in his kitchen in 2007. In the same year, he founded Monster Gallery with the aim to make art accessible to the masses. Monster Gallery is an online showcase of his quirky retro-pop-culture-inspired art and prints.
“I got quite tired of working with the computer day in, day out and I wanted to go back to the good old days to create things with my hands the analog way”, Joseph said.
Printmaking is a tedious process where almost every stage up to the finished print is made by hand, from the drawing to the carving to the printing, without the help of any printing press.
Joseph’s work carries a signature style that fuses modernist graphics with Eastern minimalism. Some printmaking artists seek for a perfect print but Joseph believes that the beauty of handprint lies in the imperfection: “If you want a perfect print, you can just go with digital printers. Humans can’t compete with computers in that sense, but humans make art.”
His most well known work is a series of movie-inspired prints, which he initially created for personal interest. Joseph has always enjoyed watching movies, and thus decided to re-create the classic movie posters by hand. “I never expected that these posters would become a hit when I posted them on my blog,” said Joseph. It was also through this experience that made Joseph realize that people actually appreciated handmade posters and would even like to invest in them.
Joseph also redesigns book covers and creates portraits of iconic authors. Reading has always been an essential in his life that he can’t live without; therefore customizing covers for his favorite books are a great satisfaction to him.
Besides creating his own original prints, Joseph conducts workshops to spread the love for his art, imparting his skills to like-minded people.
As an artist-printmaker, Joseph has exhibited his works in America, Canada, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
This year, Joseph joined The Balvenie Connoisseurs of Craft Initiative because of the support it provides and the opportunity for him to practice his skills and showcase his craft. “I want to show people how much possibility we have with our bare hands.” Joseph said.
If you would like to engage Joseph for your events, drop us an email at hello@wearethegeneralcompany.com.