Working with drawing in different mediums such as paper, video and sound, on the wall and within the space, often in the form of installation, the artist explores the representation and presence of subtle elements such as light, shadows, transparency and opacity, the intensity of things and not just the things themselves. Could her works be considered energetic equations of space?
Sara Chang Yan draws space rather than objects. In the words of the artist: ‘When I look at the world, I don’t feel like it’s enough. There must be more than this. I’m interested in the qualitative aspect of the gesture.’ The works thus aim to capture the internal quality that motivates them, that gives them life. ‘I think that life unfolds in states that are neither visible nor material’. The artist examines how the internal state within each one of us can affect reality. From an ontological perspective, her drawings seek to understand or give form to the often-invisible complex of structure-movement-vibration, looking at states and notions such as: intuition, intention, emptiness, consciousness, evidence, being.
Sara Chang Yan was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1982. She lives and works between Lisbon and Azores.
Selected solo and group exhibitions include: Em quietude, a sentir o espaço, Arquipélago Centro de Artes Contemporâneas, Ribeira Grande (2024); Lightmotiv, La BF15, Lyon (2022); Impluvium, Galería Ángeles Baños, Badajoz (2022); Estar em P, Madragoa, Lisbon (2022); A Failed Entertainment #8, De Porta a Porta - Travessa da Ermida, Lisbon (2021/2022); Desenho como pensamento, Centro de Artes de Aguéda (2020); O Desenho Incerto, Colégio das Artes, Coimbra (2020); Sem Pressa de Chegar, Galeria da Boavista, Lisbon, (2019); PTSTUDIOLO XXI, Fundação Eugenio de Almeida, Evora (2019); Um plano tangível e infinito, Madragoa, Lisbon (2018); Where Do We Stand? Two Years of Drawing with Open Sessions, The Drawing Center, New York (2017); Hibernation Plan, The Drawing Center, (2016); Escuto o Silêncio, Fala Inteiro e Com Precisão, Madragoa, Lisbon (2016); Alibi, EspaçoAZ, Lisbon (2015); Getting Lost, Fundación Botín, Villa Iris, Santander (2015).
In 2024 she was shortlisted with the Prémio Novos Artistas Fundação EDP and in 2015 she was awarded with the Prémio Artes Visuais para Jovens Criadores, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian.
Letizia Ragaglia on Sara Chang Yan's Quando o céu, o mar e os corpos se tornam transparentes, MADRAzine #10, June 2020
Catriona Whiteford on Sara Chang Yan's Andar subtil sinal, MADRAzine #5, July 2019
Installation view at Frieze New York, Focus section, booth F09, New York
May 1st - May 5th 2024
Em quietude, a sentir o espaço
Installation view at Arquipélago Centro de Artes Contemporâneas, Ribeira Grande, Portugal
October 14th 2023 - March 24th 2024
Em quietude, a sentir o espaço
Installation view at Arquipélago Centro de Artes Contemporâneas, Ribeira Grande, Portugal
October 14th 2023 - March 24th 2024
LIGHTMOTIV
Installation view at La BF15, Lyon, France
April 15th - May 28th 2022
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
January 21st - March 5th, 2022
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
January 21st - March 5th, 2022
A Failed Entertainment #8
Installation view at De Porta a Porta - Travessa da Ermida, Lisbon, Portugal
December 4th, 2021 - January 15th, 2022
Mais nada se move em cima do papel
Installation view at Centro de Artes de Águeda, Águeda, Portugal
November 14th 2020 - May 14th, 2021
O Desenho Incerto – cinco leituras do espaço
Installation view at Colégio das Artes, Coimbra, Portugal
February 17th - April 30th, 2020
Sem Pressa de Chegar
Installation view at Galeria da Boavista, Lisbon, Portugal
May 10th - August 25th, 2019
Sem Pressa de Chegar
Installation view at Galeria da Boavista, Lisbon, Portugal
May 10th - August 25th, 2019
Sem Pressa de Chegar
Installation view at Galeria da Boavista, Lisbon, Portugal
May 10th - August 25th, 2019
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
March 24th – May 5th, 2018
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
March 24th – May 5th, 2018
Where Do We Stand? Two Years of Drawing with Open Sessions
Installation view at The Drawing Center, New York, USA
August 3rd - September 17th, 2017
Installation view at Palazzo Chigi, Ariccia, Italy
May 27th - May 28th, 2017
Hibernation Plan, Open Sessions
Installation view at The Drawing Center, New York, USA
July 15th - September 2nd, 2016
Escuto o Silêncio, Fala Inteiro e com Precisão
Installation view at Madragoa, Lisbon, Portugal
June 23th - September 9th, 2016