Made in China

This 2024 painting is color rendition of a small black and white snapshot I took during a trip to China in 1974. After 50 years, much has changed, but much has stayed the same. China's major resource/asset remains their people. Factory labor is still inexpensive. Chinese products continue to be exported around the world. Our relationship with China (and mine personally) will always be important, complex, and nuanced.

Oil on Canvas by Kaffee Kang

Size: 20x24

About Kaffee Kang
Some people love to travel, to see other lands, to experience different cultures, to sample exotic cuisines, and even to learn a foreign language. But often, we cannot travel because it is too expensive, or we have obligations at home, or there is a worldwide pandemic, or, simply, we are homebodies. That is when art comes into play. A good book, the latest movie, or even a song on the radio can take us far away, to a different place and perhaps a different time. Paintings can do the same thing. Regardless of the subject matter, I have come to realize that what I enjoy most about making paintings is presenting a new perspective to the viewer. Sometimes, my paintings share a personal story from my past. Sometimes, I make commentaries on the state of our current world. And sometimes, I just look at things around me with a unique visual focus. While trying to maintain a freshness in my work, I have recently been delving more deeply into visual narratives that revolve around the human figure. Multiple figures, in varying circumstances, tell stories of family, friends, and strangers. Everyone has a story to tell. People have all sorts of unique physical attributes: sizes, shapes, hair color, etc. And we come from various backgrounds: ethnicity, culture, race, etc. And as social beings, we form and belong to different groups: family, friends, profession, etc. It is in the infinite combinations of characteristics that make people the most fascinating of painting subjects for me.