Meet Feiran Wang | Artist & Founder of Mutated Chicken

We had the good fortune of connecting with Feiran Wang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Feiran, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Coming from a family of architects, I never thought I would one day want to be an artist until the moment I realized to be honest to myself that I just could not be anything else otherwise, you know, painter sculptor kind of visual artist, even though architecture has its strong artistic perspective also but it also contains many aspects that are not artistic, while art allows much more freedom and creativity. Of course I am only talking about the forms and scale in the physical world we are currently living in; if they are to be extended into Metaverse, or higher dimensions, in the future, beyond our 3D physical sense, then I guess the differences between all the different fields, including architecture or art, become lesser, which consequently leads to convergent evolution in which different functions become similar and similar become the same. In such universe, the universe that we have not been able to clearly define nor involve ourselves in yet; or at least majority of us. I cannot stop being creative; at some point in my life, art chose me, that is how I decided to be an artist. I live in a dangerous world, at least in my world appears to me dangerous, because I don’t like to choose, I much more like to be chosen. If, one day, art abandons me, I will stop being an artist, and this is dangerous to me. I prefer not to say that I never need to intentionally seek for inspirations for my art, because that sounds more like an asshole talking rather than an innocent child like me. For example, many like to date to find the muses to create art, Pablo Picasso is one of them, I love him but that is beside the point. Also many like to travel to see beautiful things and beautiful people and paint beautiful places, I envy them because that make their life much more interesting. I have a very boring life, and even more, I work on only one single art subject-“Mutated Chicken”; but it is true, that many things, funny/ beautiful/ ugly/ persistent/ temporary/ holy/ lovely/ cruel/ distant/ proximal/ giant/ miniscule/ repetitive/ poetic/ vulgar and many others come to my mind and offer me to choose the scenes that I am mostly interested in at that moment to companion my mutated chickens, before or while I start to work on a new painting or a new sculpture. Being an artist fulfills that part of my functionality as an individual, so yeah so far I am safe, Art has not abandoned me yet.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
In 2022, I founded Mutated Chicken, an artistic brand that involves fine art, collectible toys, limited edition prints, fashion and some other artistic products of Mutated Chicken. Inspired by once having a chicken born with a third leg living in a coop in the backyard of my grandparents’ house in a suburban town in China, this experience left a very strong visual impact on me with funny, mysterious emotional impact while I was a little kid, and it seemed being almost forgotten after I went to schools and busy with all kinds of assignments that I was really not into, and then the experience came back to me later in my life when I came to United States to study masters’ of architecture design; I redesigned and modeled my grandparents’ house based on forms and textures of chickens while inspired by biological mutation process. I decided to be an artist sometime after graduation, and after sometime I decided to dedicate to Mutated Chicken as an artist as no other things could comparably obsess me. Mutated Chicken expresses the happiest memory of my childhood, a memory that I would like to spend my lifetime within, a happy chapter that I would like to repetitively recall and rebuild. With the assistance of digital software, advanced computer and 3D printing technologies, my art is able to exist in more complicated and precise scenes and more possible visual forms. Mutated Chicken is able to also show on clothing, leather bags and some other fashion products, thanks to manufacture process of the 21st century. The brand of Mutated Chicken is contemporary as it lives right NOW and should be beyond contemporary in the foreseen future; as the founder, I am happy that Mutated Chicken art is proceeded with the support of newest techniques and technology, and time and experience will one day tell me how to go beyond as well.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Possible lists: Mutated Chicken art shows, Being forced to pet my pet chicken (her name is MuCh), Circus chicken show, Chicken magic show, Zoo, Chicken racing competition, Chicken farm, Chicken restaurants, KungPao chicken in Chinese restaurants(sorry not gonna be Panda Express, damn hard to find any good ones), Chicken green curry in Thai cafe (a Thai restaurant I regular go to), Wild fields of yellow flowers (if it is the right season)…told you, I am boring…

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I believe everyone I met contributed to who I am and how I am and what I am doing right now with whatever degree of influence. Without my family, I could not be born and be here on this planet to make art as a free mind artist. They deserve the most credit, besides myself. I would like to mention just a few people here. My grandfather, his name was WenHua Zhang. He passed away in China during my study in United States, this man spoiled me in every way he could since I was little, he did not have a very good temper and he often got angry and shouted at other of my family members, except for me. I guess it is not abnormal for me to have little fantasy towards much elder man, because of his unconditional love towards me. He is the one who taught me ping pong, gomoku, brush writing, xiang qi chess and so on, and occupied a big part of my happy memory, which of course is very important influences to my current creativity and mindset.

MuCh, my pet chicken, I had her since she was a week old and she is now 5 months old. She has kept me company everyday ever since I had her. She lives with me at home and she follows me everywhere I move. Now she is inseparable from my life and my creativity, simply because she stays right next to me every day when I am working on art. She also goes with me to shops, art shows and everywhere. She is my companion.

A professor while I was studying architecture at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles. His name is Hernan Diaz Alonso. With his mentorship and encouragement, my artistic horizons were enlarged and design technical perspectives were also greatly improved during one year and half of studying in his class. My experience of studying architecture from my father and from school education has built a foundation for sophisticated techniques and advanced approach in my thinking and art practice.

Website: www.mutatedchicken.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/feiranwangmutatedchicken/

Other: https://www.artsy.net/artist/feiran-wang