En-Man Chang’s Snail Paradise acquired by the Dallas Museum of Art

Installation view of Mapping Snail at Nunu Fine Art New York. Photo by MarTin Seck

Nunu Fine Art is pleased to congratulate Taiwanese artist En-Man Chang on the acquisition of her work, Snail Paradise, by the Dallas Museum of Art. This acquisition highlights the growing international recognition of Chang’s research-driven practice and her distinctive engagement with history, ecology, and cultural memory. 

Chang’s work often examines the entangled relationships between historical narratives, species migration, and cultural identity. Working across embroidery, video, and installation, she draws on detailed research to transform seemingly modest subjects into powerful lenses through which to reconsider colonial histories, global circulation, and Indigenous knowledge systems. 

Snail Paradise draws from the global dispersal history of the Giant African Land Snail. Native to East Africa, the species spread through colonial trade routes and became one of the world’s 100 most invasive species. In 1933, during the Japanese colonial period, officials introduced the snail from Singapore to Taiwan for food cultivation, its migration routes mirroring the cartographies of imperial expansion. Chang’s embroidered works incorporate plants associated with snail cuisine, rendered in cross-stitch as a way of imagining the preservation of cultural “traditions” for future generations. Cross-stitch is a traditional embroidery technique among some Indigenous Taiwanese communities, often featuring geometric and symmetrical patterns that signify social status, ancestry, and spiritual beliefs.  

The acquisition of Snail Paradise by the Dallas Museum of Art not only affirms Chang’s thoughtful translation of historical and cultural research into contemporary artistic language but also underscores her significant position within the international contemporary art landscape.