Davi Cheng

Artist and graphic designer Davi Cheng was born in Hong Kong into a Christian/Protestant extended family. Her great-grandfather Jan Con Sang, Chas Jan Wann when he was a documented laborer in Territorial Arizona, converted to Christianity in 1896 at the First Congregational Church before he returned to China in 1902 to spread the Gospel. Davi's grandfather never set foot in the U.S.A. Davi immigrated to the United States with her family under her father's immigrant visa when she was fourteen. She earned a B.A. in Biological Sciences from U.C. Berkeley with the intention of pursuing a career in the medical field. Instead she gravitated toward art, making detailed sketches and drawings of wildlife. After graduating and working in business for a few years, Cheng went back to school to study computer graphic design. As a visual artist she combines traditional methods of drawing and painting by hand with advanced digital design techniques. She also works as a graphic designer in corporate and nonprofit contexts.

The themes in Cheng's art emerge from her Chinese heritage and her deep engagement with Jewish texts and traditions from a progressive and multicultural perspective. She is a longtime member and past president of Congregation Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC) in Los Angeles, and part of the Bechol Lashon (In Every Tongue) international network celebrating Jewish diversity.

Cheng's work is published in Women of the Book (2015), a visual Torah scroll created by 54 Jewish women artists from around the world. Cheng's original interpretation of the Torah portion Parshat Pekudei, a pen and ink painting on parchment, was inspired by her Hong Kong childhood superheroes and by images of clouds in Journey to the West, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.

Another painting, "Burning Bush I," was published on the cover of Asian Jewish Life magazine (June 2015, issue 16); on The Jewniverse, "Chinese Art with a Jewish Twist (Or, Jewish Art with a Chinese Twist)" by Ilana Sichel (June 8, 2015); and on My Jewish Learning, "Seamlessly Chinese and Jewish" by Davi Cheng (June 1, 2015).

Cheng designed BCC synagogue's permanent stained glass window installation, the centerpiece of which refers to the biblical story of the parting of the Red Sea; along with three other artists, she also fabricated and installed all 12 panes (measuring 30" x 40" each). She has created other art works for the sanctuary, collaborating with Jerry Hanson on a set of stained glass Ark doors and a solar-powered Ner Tamid ("eternal light") made with more than a thousand one-inch glass squares.

A musician, Cheng plays trumpet and French horn. She co-founded and performs in BCC's Klezmer band, Gay Gezunt, and also sings in the synagogue's choir. She lives with her spouse Bracha Yael Cheng in Los Angeles.