Artist Statement

As a self-taught Chinese American artist, my work emerges from the intersection of Western modernism and Eastern philosophy, particularly the I Ching. This dual lineage informs a visual language grounded in dynamic balance, where color, geometry, and spatial rhythm converge to shape perceptual and emotional experience.

Informed by the I Ching’s logic of change—where transformation arises through the interplay of opposing yet complementary forces—my work establishes a precarious equilibrium between harmony and dissonance, presence and absence, stability and disruption. I approach geometry as a living system in which subtle variations in interval, line weight, tonal relationship, or chromatic intensity alter meaning and emotional register. Compositionally, I use interlocking forms, many drawing loosely from the Tangram puzzle, to create ambiguous figure–ground relationships that echo our desire to both belong and differentiate. Materially, I work with matte paint that absorbs rather than reflects light, encouraging direct, unmediated encounters that anchor viewers’ attention in the here and now.

While painting remains central to my practice, I am expanding into three-dimensional and site-specific formats, translating my visual inquiries into public context. Ultimately, my work rewards sustained attention: what initially appears minimal unfolds into a richer field of relationships, offering moments of contemplation where clarity and uncertainty, stability and change, are held in dynamic balance.

Bio

Maggie Jiang is a self-taught Chinese American artist whose work emerges from the intersection of Western modernism and Eastern philosophy, particularly the I Ching. This dual lineage informs a visual language grounded in dynamic balance, where color, geometry, and spatial rhythm converge to shape perceptual and emotional experience.

Since 2016, Jiang has exhibited widely, with solo exhibitions at J. Rinehart Gallery, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, and Asia Pacific Culture Center, and group exhibitions at Canon Ball Art, Schack Art Center, Studio e, and Ryan James Fine Art, among others. Represented by J. Rinehart Gallery in Seattle, she has also completed multiple public art commissions that extend her visual inquiries into communal space.

Jiang’s work has been featured in The Seattle Times, The Stranger, The International Examiner, Visual Art Source, and other publications. Born in Beijing and educated in China and the United States, Jiang brings a cross-cultural perspective to her practice. Her work rewards sustained attention: what initially appears minimal gradually unfolds into a richer field of relationships—inviting viewers to consider the dynamic balances that underlie both visual perception and lived experience.

Her work is held in private collections across the United States and internationally.