Volume Gallery is pleased to announce Abigail Chang, Reflections of a Room, opening June 24th from 6-8pm at 1709 W Chicago Ave, Chicago IL 60622.
Abigail Chang’s first solo exhibition with the gallery features reflective surfaces that use familiar proportions from both domestic and public spaces. The objects read as windows viewed at night and invite an acute awareness of one’s surroundings.
Chang presents eight objects of varying shape and scale that borrow from everyday mirrors—cosmetic, full-length, rear-view, safety. Acting as framing devices, they call attention to the relationship of a body in space—encircling the face or reflecting the entire self. Perception itself is the subject of the work, with the viewer in direct dialog.
The objects reference the transition of a window from day to night. In daylight, the reflectivity of a glass pane leaves a glimmering trace in the surrounding environment, while at dusk, the dimming exterior glow contrasts with interior illumination. From within a building at night, the window acts as a blurry mirror and prompts an inhabitant’s sense of exposure.
The work examines reflection as a contemporary condition of viewing, reminding us to notice the ubiquitous reflective surfaces in our daily lives—the ongoing dance of transparency and bouncing light in our built environment.
Abigail Chang is a designer and educator from Los Angeles and based in Chicago. Forged between academia and practice, her work is interested in subtle encounters that are driven by material qualities and details, and that respond to currents in contemporary culture.
A recent installation, Skeuomorphic Screens, examines the screen as an architectural element that singularly translates apertures, portals, and reflections. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including the 2019 Lisbon Architecture Triennale and the 2021 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, and supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. She is currently Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts.
Prior to starting her practice, she worked in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Basel, and Tokyo at architecture and landscape architecture firms including Norman Kelley, SO – IL, and Herzog & de Meuron. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Architectural Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, with distinction, and a Master’s in Architecture from Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, where she was awarded the Takenaka Fellowship.
