"Fish in Cages" are some stills from Crystal Kung's animation film for her graduation project. The project was set in Taipei, showing its rustic and old essence. 'Fish in Cages' will give you nostalgic vibes and a glimpse of Taipei.

"Fish in Cages" are some pieces I did for the graduation film I'm working on. I'm going to graduate next year, each student in my class has to make one animation film in a semester. I drew these pictures to be the style frames for my film, showing what my film may look like in the end and developing the story from the images.
-Crystal Kung

The ideas are mainly coming from Taipei City, where I live in. The background of the pictures are some old buildings, signboards and iron windows that can be usually seen in Taipei.
-Crystal Kung

The story is talking about the "iron windows" which usually can be seen on Taipei's apartments. I think the iron window are not only the tool that protect people from thieves, but a reflection of Taipei citizen's distrust and the distance between people. It made every room an isolate zone, and keep people from the world outside of the windows. People live in the iron windows are just like living in the cages, disconnect with human relations. Just like fishes live in bowls, never understand what freedom feels like.
-Crystal Kung

I'm not sure how to clearly define my style because it changes all the time. I'm always trying to make my style looks unique and can be easily figure out. I can make a super long list of my favorite artists, so I picked some of them who really amazed me a lot. I love Victo Ngai's style, she's one of my favorite artist in the world. And I also admire Pascal Campion, Lorelay Bove, Brittney Lee, Patrycja Podkościelny, Matt Rockefeller, Inca Pan and many others.
-Crystal Kung

I'm also a young, anxious artist who is just about to graduate from school and I still don't know what to do with my life yet. The only thing I always tell myself is "You should do whatever you want to do. Now is the time that you're least afraid of failure. " Just pick up your pen and start to draw. Share your work with other artists and make friends with them.
-Crystal Kung

About Crystal Kung

Crystal Kung was born in Xi’an, China in 1994. She was raised in Taipei, Taiwan. Crystal is currently a student studying 3D animation in Taipei and a freelance illustrator. Most of her works are animations, illustrations, character designs and comics. Apart from drawing, her greatest interests are traveling, playing with dogs and watching cartoons. See more of her works on Behance.