Early Life
Chin grew up primarily in Lafayette, California. Inspired greatly by his graphic designer parents, along with a fascination with antiquity, and the works of modern, and contemporary artists such as Ruth Asawa, John Baldessari, Jasper Johns, Paul Klee, Julie Mehretu, Isamu Noguchi, Jackson Pollock, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, and Wayne Thiebaud, all playing a major part in Chin’s early development. Chin won many awards during his teen years, including a Congressional Award by the United States House of Representatives, in Washington DC. His interest in nature sparked him to study and apprentice under Japanese American Bonsai Masters,Yutaka Kimura, Kunatoshi Akabane, and John Naka, mastering traditional Japanese landscape, and traditional Japanese bonsai cultivation. By age 11, Chin's Bonsai trees were selected to be included in the prestigious National Cherry Blossom Festival Japantown, in San Francisco. At 15, he was selected as the youngest artist commissioned to participate in the Hearts of San Francisco project, benefiting the San Francisco General Hospital foundation.
Read more about this topic: Alan Chin (artist)
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