David Chien  gustywindsmayexist

gustywindsmayexist, is the second of Rice Gallery’s Summer Window installations. The Summer Window series features installations that can be viewed from the gallery foyer, while the gallery itself is closed for the summer. For the 2002 Summer Window, Rice Gallery commissioned former Rice University student, David Chien, to create a 16” x 44” installation on the front glass wall of the gallery using multi-colored of vinyl.

A cautionary road sign seen on a visit to the Grand Canyon inspired David Chien’s window installation. The effects of an unexpected rush of wind on an otherwise normal daily routine is Chien’s whimsical extension of the idea. In gustywindsmayexistChien’s signature cartoon figures appear on a monumental scale, tossed about yet maintaining their cheerful expressions. “These characters are always having dynamic interactions with their environment,” says Chien. “Most of them are overly optimistic, and I guess that’s how I am sometimes. It’s this out-of-place figure within an environment that’s sometimes kind of crazy, a little zany; but the little character gets by.”

Chien’s style developed in the context of his editorial cartoon strip Rationale, which for the past four years was a weekly feature in the student newspaper, the Rice Thresher. Each strip featured Chien’s highly stylized Everyman characters in a situation corresponding to something occurring on campus at the time.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
David Chien was born in Taiwan in 1980, and his family moved to the Houston area when he was a child. Chien received a BA in Studio Art from Rice University in May 2002 and was awarded the Raymond Swift Medal by the Department of Art and Art History. Chien currently works as a freelance designer in Houston.