YOUNG TALENTS
Energy and movement

The FANZI Gallery asked six Taiwanese designers to show their work at 3daysofdesign: Their pieces offered an interface between design and art, inviting visitors to rethink the supposed boundaries of design in the face of everyday objects presented in poetic forms of expression. Chialing Chang, founder of the messagingleaving studio, showed ‘Circuit–Sequence’, mobile light sculptures for which steel cables both maintain tension and conduct electricity. These were developed in collaboration with the engineering art group ZAP. She also presented a study on the optical illusion created by the oxide layer that forms when stainless steel is treated with heat: ‘Bluing Series–Cross’. One side of the cross-shaped structure has been polished until you can see your reflection in it – the other side has been heat-treated, revealing iron oxide tints that shimmer from light yellow to violet to blue-grey. While this effect is generally undesirable in industry as it can lead to corrosion, Chialing Chang uses its aesthetic qualities as a finishing touch. She gives us an insight into her work in an interview.

In your work, you transform raw, solid materials such as steel cables, wires and stainless steel into delicate, sculptural designs. What appeals to you about this transformation and new interpretability?

Chialing Chang: I’m often drawn to materials that carry a certain rigidity or tension. To me, they feel neutral – materials like metal and glass, which have a certain clarity. Perhaps it's their coldness, their inorganic nature, or simply the sense that they hold no predetermined meaning. There’s a kind of emptiness in them, and for me, that emptiness is full of possibility.I can layer thoughts and feelings onto them, and through that process, the material becomes like a mirror. It reflects how I approach it, how I try to translate something internal into physical form, how I respond to it, or sometimes challenge it. In the end, it’s about how my aspiration can find a shared language with the material.

You founded your studio in 2021. What did you feel was missing in the industry that you wanted to offer with your creative expression?

Chialing Chang: I started messagingleaving when I realized that the way I approach design didn’t fully align with the methods I was taught. My background is in industrial and product design, where thinking is often linear—focused on function, efficiency, or clear solutions to specific problems. But I found myself more and more interested in other aspects: the way a material feels, the small variations that occur during making, or the stories and contexts behind a piece. These elements felt just as important to me as the outcome itself.Over time, I began to shape my own way of working, one that didn’t need to be defined strictly as design or art. I’ve come to accept that my practice carries an artistic intention while still being informed by design logic. It lives somewhere in between, and I’ve grown comfortable in that space.

What are you currently working on?

Chialing Chang: Most of my work has been shown through exhibitions and installations, but in recent years, I’ve started collaborating more with brands. One ongoing project is with a local Taiwanese woodworking furniture company. It began with a one-off piece I created for their shop interior and gradually developed into a continuing exchange. We’re now working together on furniture design and exploring the possibility of starting a new brand.This shift has been a meaningful surprise. It shows that the values I care about, and the way I approach making, are beginning to resonate with others in production and commercial contexts. At the same time, continuing my personal work remains essential. It’s what keeps my practice flexible, open, and independent. Alongside that, I’m becoming more aware of how personal ideas might take shape more tangibly, and how they might quietly carry influence when expressed through different formats.

Chialing Chang is the founder of messagingleaving, a creative practice in Taipei that explores the dialogue between industrial production and craftsmanship through objects, installations, and experimental works. With a background spanning product design at Jin Kuramoto Studio in Tokyo and an MAS from ECAL in Design for Luxury and Craftsmanship, her work often draws on raw materials and elemental forces to evoke a quiet balance between functionality and a meditative sensibility.