Island II, sumi ink on paper

Dominique Cheng is an illustrator and installation artist with a background in architecture. The artist’s current portfolio features quiet, dense artworks made with minimal colour and small, fine marks that intersect and interact to create a larger whole.

Ark, ink on trace

I really enjoy the overall monochromatic, black-and-white aesthetic of Cheng’s portfolio. The focus on line art and white space really speaks to artist’s experience with architectural design and drawing, and I find some of the works are reminiscent of early paintings by Piet Mondrian. The artist favours traditional art materials like graphite, ink, gouache, and paper, using a high amount of contrast between his marks and grounding. It’s interesting to see the works up close, and observe how the various small, overlapping lines form patterns, which in turn combine to create a whole that’s more than the sum of its parts.

Outside of his personal practice, Cheng is also a co-founder of WE-3, an architectural and design-based collective.

Blot Study 1, acrylic and gouache on paper