ARTIST STATEMENT
Rekindling the 2000’s Through Sci Fi
Coming of age in the mid-2000’s, I was shaped by a time of wonder, innovation, and hope for the future. The emerging internet promised a golden age where creativity and freedom of information would flourish. The invention of CGI created an explosion of fantastical sci fi games, TV series and movies, raising a generation to believe that those futures were reachable in our lifetimes.
In the end, however, many of the technologies’ promises failed to materialize, becoming a tool for corporate interests and superficial social trends. Entertainment turned into endless sequels and remakes, and consumer designs became flat and oversimplified. Seeking to pick the torch back up and carry it forward, I now use the CGI styles of the 2000’s to create new, grand sci fi and fantasy scenes for the everyday social media user, the way things should have continued all along.
My art style, expressed through a number of different creative universes, blends the aesthetic trends of 2000’s electronic art and various more traditional styles of architecture and industrial design. The Empire in Peril series in particular forms a cohesive world through several books, an independent film, and a planned video game, in addition to the digital art stills found here.
Through my digital art, I hope to reinspire and remind the nation of the early information revolution: a past time with a better future.
Books
The first two installations of the Empire in Peril sci-fi series is currently available now, on Amazon, and in select stores.
COMING SOON: The Art of An Empire in Peril, a high-quality artbook featuring the 3D art design of the feature film.
Book 1: An Empire in Peril
In a future where neither World War occurred, the 29th Century is full of age-old empires racing to colonize the galaxy’s billions of so far uninhabited worlds. Humanity’s long-awaited first contact is with an alliance of aliens who believe that all resources in the universe should be controlled by artificial intelligence, and they have been forcing every species they encounter to join them.
Atlas Saheed, a marine from a future successor to the Russian Empire, is assigned to find and eliminate their enemy’s enigmatic artificial intelligence mainframe with his unit. His mission takes him to the remotest corners of the civilization, across solar systems, and deep into uncharted space–all in a desperate hope to save humanity from the fate of a faceless digital autocracy.
Book 2: The Great Decline
Two years have passed since humanity’s first contact with the alien Aradynic Dominion. The old empires of Earth have survived, though battle-worn and changed forever. The people are weary and governments are paranoid.
The exploration of the former Dominion’s worlds yields a disturbing discovery. An advanced ancient civilization lies buried and hibernating beneath millions of worlds. Aradynic remnants believe if they awaken them, they will rally to the original Dominion’s mission of universal AI rule.
The truth is far murkier and more dangerous, potentially giving insight into the ultimate fate of all life in the universe. Their reawakening threatens to plunge the entire known galaxy back into total war.
ARTIST BIO
Nick Chang was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. From an early age, he became obsessed with air, space, and science fiction, starting a die cast model plane collection in 2nd grade. He later became involved in writing through high school political advocacy, publishing a report for the Hawaii Americans for Democratic Action used to testify in Congress, and introducing a resolution to the Hawaii House of Representatives on animal welfare.
In college, Nick self-published a science fiction novel “An Empire in Peril,” which was taken up by several students from the Art Institute of Seattle to produce into an independent film about. Due to difficulties in their production, he had to step in and rapidly learn many digital art skills, including BlackMagic Resolve, Adobe Photoshop, and Blender.
Nick received a BA in Business Analytics and a minor in Economics with honors from Seattle University. He currently works as a logistics specialist by day and digital artist by night. He primarily creates 3D sci fi renders in Blender with a focus on space travel and city planning. His works have been displayed at the A/NT Gallery in the Seattle Center, Pacific Edge Magazine, and the Russell Investments Center, among other places.