Nadine Anderson Cheng
When I think about my life, I think about everything that led me to this point, making me the artist I am today, from drawing on Sundays with my older brother to my favorite subjects—history and religion in high school, then in college psychology and anthropology. I always asked myself "what made people tick"?
It’s funny, whenever I would travel I would spontaneously follow people I thought interesting, down side streets, into neighborhoods, observing them in their "natural habitat" and how they interacted with others in passing. This led me into many fascinating nooks, exposing me to unfamiliar environments I would not have otherwise discovered and insights I could only have gleaned through the innocent gaze at the unfiltered.
With this, all comes full circle to my never ending quest of "what it means to be human?" Tied into that is my hope to always be a part of a solution for a better world for everyone. My pieces reflect my daily life and my concerns, sometimes in whimsy and sometimes in darkness through the various artistic skills I've learnt. As humans we wear many masks,—my material plaster is molded directly from the faces of myself, friends and family, taking with it a piece of who they are, and turning their stories into art—attached to a soul.
My mission is to create works that starts a conversation, that leads to understanding and is a catalyst for positive change.
Nadine Anderson Cheng is a Jamaican/American figurative artist, with a Masters degree in Graphic/Environmental Design also an Honors Bachelors degree including intensive training in design, photography, textiles, jewelry and sculpture. She has exhibited in the Caribbean, Florida, Chicago, New York, Köln, Basel and London, and has donated her time and work for community projects to help women, children and the underprivileged, working with United Way, Ikea, Family Resource Center and other charitable organizations. As well as creating marketing training workshops for other artists.
Upcoming+Past Projects
Connected. Disconnect.
Photographic Installation
More.
Sculptural Installation
...and the Year was 2020.
Sculpture (7feet/2.13meters high)
Curator of Humanity 2019, which is an ongoing traveling exhibition that was created to use Art to empower the viewer to think, to hope, and to take action—to make this a better, happier world for every living thing.
With over 30 pieces of artwork, using a diverse set of mediums—from wood to plaster, canvas to paper, photography and video installations, the intention is to bring awareness to viewers on topics of modern media, traditions, love, the environment and other topics that impact daily life.
pic: giving a tour to Art Therapy students from Bonn, NRW
Nadine created the iconography of Humanity based on Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man which is aptly also called the 'Proportions of Man',—the examination of which 'Humanity' has embarked on. The red lamp is synonymous with a thinking cap-a jolt, while the electrical cord plugs us into the world of thought...but it is wrapped around various limbs, symbolizing the complexity of understanding human life.
"What do you think of today's humanity" is inspired by humanity itself, it is the focal video installation, is an ongoing collection of public opinion from around the world. This was combined with the Let us be Humane again products to spread social awareness.
Submit your own video to: HumanitytheExhibition@gmail.com
Worked along side Miami Beach’s first female mayor, and several women in business to spearhead The Miami Beach Women’s Conference to empower more women and girls to roles of leadership, whether in the Arts, government or business. It featured an art exhibition, a luncheon and a panel of five other women mayors from Miami-Dade County and a full day of speakers on a variety of women’s issues. The success led the committee to have an annual conference over a weekend for Womens Month.
pic: organizing committee
Nadine along with several celebrities take part in an annual event sponsored by Ikea, creating artwork out of Ikea clocks to auction, benefitting the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power & Potential (GCAPP) which is a statewide adolescent health organization that partners with communities to help ensure young people are equipped with the knowledge, information, and motivation they need to make healthy choices.
pic: with American rapper Christopher Brian Bridges (Ludacris)
What better way to observe talented artisans than event managing a reality show? Heidi Klum's Project Runway casting call drew 100s of designers from several states to converge on Miami hoping to vie for the best designer. The crowd was always charged with the travel-weary and tangible nervous energy. Later Nadine found herself as an Assistant Casting Director managing sometimes over 150 extras per day, as well as organizing art exhibitions that brought artists together.
pic: with Tim Gunn
2021-2022 Installation works in progress:
- ...and the year was 2020 - A look at COVID-19 transmission
- Home Office - A satirical study of working from home
- The Eye in the Sky - We are being watched - video/photography
- The Box - The Meaning of Me - Wood/mixed media
Published Magazine Articles
- Feb 2021 Radschlaeger ‘Leben im Jahr 2020 Kuration’
- Jan 2022 FAWCO ‘Art as a Catalyst for Environmental Change’
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Exhibitions and Artistic Endeavors - thru 2021
2021 Haaner Herbst - City of Haan Kunst Assoc. - group show
2021 Artsy online: Einzelausstellung Oktober
2020 Life in 2020 - Art Therapy for the AIWCD
Connect Disconnect sculpture - Düsseldorf Artist Grant Awarded 2020
Curator/artist - Humanity, the exhibition - May-July 8, 2019:
Touring 3-cities: Köln, Basel and London
www.HumanitytheExhibition.com FB/Insta: @HumanitytheExhibition
Selected Exhibitions and Artistic Endeavors - thru 2018
Zen Zone Miami 2018
KROMA Art Gallery: Group shows - 2017
Art from the Heart: Annual art auction for foster children 2017 - 2018
ArtServe: Group Show 2016 and 2017
KROMA Art Gallery: Two Man show - 2016
ArtServe: Group Show - “RedEye” 2015
ArtServe: Group Show - “Big Big Beautiful Art” 2015
Wynwood ArtWalk Independent: 2014 - 2015
Art Basel Underground, Miami: 2014 I
KEA/GCAPP Celebrity Annual Benefit: 2008 - 2009
United Way: Charity Annual auctions 1999 - 2000
Chicago (USA) Private collector exhibition: 2001
Pegasus Gallery: Solo (sold out) exhibition: 2000
Pegasus Gallery: Annual Group multiple exhibitions: 1999 - 2002
Mutual Life Gallery: Annual Group multiple exhibitions 1998 - 2002
National Photography Bronze Medalist 1998