Julie Stephen Chheng

Biography

Based in Paris, Julie Stephen Chheng is a multidisciplinary artist working at the crossroads of illustration, design and scenography, across both physical and digital worlds. A graduate of the École des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, she develops poetic and playful works that blend storytelling, technology and visual art. From her early creations at Studio Volumique, where she authored interactive books and apps such as Poèmes en Pièces, Les Aventures d’un Village and La Pluie à Midi, to her immersive installations, she continually reinvents the way we experience images and narratives. Residencies have taken her from the Hong Kong Arts Centre (2014) to the Villa Kujoyama in Kyoto (2016), shaping her dialogue between nature, language and digital media. In 2017 she presented Uramado at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris, followed by Pliés Coupés Décalés at the Montreuil Children’s Book Fair. Since 2018 she has created imaginative window displays for Hermès in Tokyo and Shanghai, while her acclaimed project Uramado AR has travelled the world, including a presentation by the Alliance Française d’Ahmedabad, inviting audiences to discover hidden spirits through augmented reality. Her current works, Fortune Teller and Landscapes in Construction, continue her exploration of the boundaries between the tangible and the virtual. Through her research, Julie Stephen Chheng questions our relationship with nature and the mechanisms of interpretation built on words and images. Playful yet profound, her creations invite each viewer to step into layered worlds, where imagination becomes a space of encounter between the visible and the invisible. At the France–Laos Festival she presents Fortune Teller and the Uramado AR trail in Luang Prabang and Vientiane, alongside workshops for children and families.

Career

1. 2026

   France–Laos Festival — “Fortune Teller” at the Institut français in Vientiane

2. 2025

   “Fortune Teller” in Berlin (Alice Guy gallery), Belfort (Espace Gantner) and Cergy (Visages du Monde)

3. 2024

   Residency at Villa Antipode (Te Ataata) in Auckland; Art Nature Festival in Pohang (Korea) and Les Capucins in Brest

4. 2023

   “Fortune Teller” begins in residency at Lablab with AADN Lyon, supported by the CNC (immersive creation)

5. 2018

   Window displays for Hermès in Tokyo and Shanghai; Uramado AR begins touring the world

6. 2017

   Uramado at the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Paris); Pliés Coupés Décalés at the Montreuil Children’s Book Fair

7. 2016

   Residency at Villa Kujoyama, Kyoto

8. 2014

   Residency at the Hong Kong Arts Centre

Artistic practice

Between paper and digital, worlds to explore where audiences become part of the story.

Works & projects