Derek Chung is a Vietnamese-American tattoo artist based in Orange County, California. He is currently working in Westminster at Red Buddha Tattoo Parlor. His work encompasses South East Asian art. His oriental style depicts various Asian inspired creatures and entities from across all of Southeast Asia; ranging from fu dogs and dragons, to lotuses and Japanese cherry blossoms. While Derek Chung is a seemingly small artist, he represents a strong demographic within the world of 21st century tattoos. As this style of tattoo work begins to make its way through Western culture, Southeast asian art stands as an integral part within creative communities everywhere. 

To begin, a large portion Derek Chung’s work revolves around dragons. In specific, he depicts the East Asian Dragon, or “Long” in his works. These dragons are described as snake-like and can take on other forms of animals; some of which have heads of other animals. That being said, Chung’s art style is very fluid and harmonious. This means that his style involves a lot of long lines and fluid shapes. In addition to dragons, his style revolves around a lot of different types of flowers, such as lotus flowers and orchids. Hence, the fluidity of his work is complemented by the round shapes and angles that flowers naturally take on. 

Furthermore, Derek Chung uses a majority of red and black shades in most of his tattoo work. These types of colors allow his art to be perceived as very strong, yet intricate. He allows the lack of color to draw attention to the detail and precision of his pieces. This is why a lot of his work is done in black and white, or little to no color. 

Southeast Asian art is used to communicate a lot of virtues that are upheld within the culture. While they are symbolic, Chung uses these beings and objects to portray a sense of pride and strength upon those receive these tattoos. The mark of his work underlies the feelings of power, luck, and strength that the Southeast Asian culture values very highly. 

All in all, all of these pieces displayed support this gallery’s vision. 21st Century Tattoo Art is unique in that it draws inspiration and support from an extremely diverse pull of styles and ideas. Moreover, these pieces communicate the central idea of tattoo art; to express yourself and reveal to the world what one values and enjoys within their creative lives.