Ian Tung
© Ian Tung

Repeat After Me


2024

Charcoal on Paper

11" x 14"


This piece was a concentrated effort to reconcile my past self with the young adult I am today – to convey the ambiguous nature of self and interrogate what exactly defines it.  I focused on curating a somber, ghostly atmosphere through a monochrome palette. Both figures are unequivocally me at different points in time, and yet I regard them as separate, distinct entities. I am often tempted to reject my younger self since my identity has drastically evolved over the years. However, distancing the past from the present is never simple and I couldn't be the person I am in this moment without first experiencing life through a female lens. In this artwork, I embrace it and hug her tight, if only to recognize that I once saw the world through her eyes, once braved her fear and distress as my own.


Eye of the Storm

2025

Pencil & Ink on Paper

11” x 17”


As part of my junior year Advanced Projects class, I was assigned a “50 objects” prompt, challenged to include 50 or more items in a single large-scale illustration. With only a pencil and micron pens at my disposal, I relished the open-ended nature of the project scope, style, and subject matter. I aimed to encapsulate the stresses of student life, specifically how daily responsibilities – even enjoyable hobbies – turn obligatory at times.

Overkill


2024

Chalk Pastel & Pencil on Paper

11" x 14"


My aim for this piece is to radiate stress and erraticism but also provide catharsis – a reflection of self-destructive behavior and finding yourself trapped within a cycle of excess. I experimented with an unconventional and highly saturated color palette to create an overwhelming, “in your face” feeling. The expression of the depicted figure, with his eyes rolled upwards, is physically retreating. His skin is dyed a sickly yellow, defined by notes of blue and green, which further cultivate the notion of unease, while his neck bulges with struggle.

Echo


2024

Charcoal on Paper

8.5" x 11"


As someone who battles with self-perception and rarely does self-portraits, this piece took me in new directions. I often feel that my image bends and twists depending on the perspective of the viewer. In certain ways, this illustration is a challenge back to the viewer, presenting an autonomous narrative of myself that I welcome people to see. I am quite literally framed by parallel, uncompromising lines as the center of the work, and I make direct eye contact. However, in crafted this piece I intentionally left room for interpretation – my expression, while interrogative, is ambiguous and, a paradox yet to be resolved.

Candlewax

2023

Digital Drawing


Inspired by the tale of Icarus, I sometimes see myself in the boy who “flew too close to the sun,” relentlessly pushing myself towards a goal and only realizing my wings have melted off when I bite the dust. Monochromatic and full of contrast, the viewer is forced to seek out the gaping scars and tears, the negative space between each unraveling feather. The figure twists away from the viewer with its head bent so low as to cease to exist, perhaps out of shame or exhaustion.