Phillip Hua

Artist Statement:

My current body of work is concerned with the relationship between the economy and the environment. Inspired by globalization and the intertwined Eastern and Western markets, I use imagery and symbols that draw from these cultures. Themes of excess and finance are woven into meditations on nature and permanence. 

In my primary body of work, images of nature are digitally printed and then painted onto individual sheets of financial newspapers. Mimicking the commodification and manufacturing of nature, each sheet is methodically laminated in packaging tape, then assembled together. When exposed to extended amounts of sunlight, these works will yellow and change over time, paralleling our current climate condition. Evoking a theme of change, these pieces are intrinsically performative. Serving as an extended metaphor for our relationship with nature, this body of work addresses the issue of the environment through the prism of technology, commerce, and activism.

Phillip Hua is an artist living and working in San Francisco. He received his BFA in Illustration from the Academy of Art University. His work has been exhibited locally and nationally and some of the venues where his work has been shown include Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Cornell Museum of Art and History, FL, California Museum of Photography, Coos Art Museum, OR, Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, MI, The Center on Contemporary Art, WA, Mission 17, Micaela Gallery and Hang Art Gallery, where he is represented. He has twice been nominated to exhibit in the Florence Biannale and he is currently an instructor at the Academy of Art University where he teaches Digital Media.