Hank Cheng - Scenes of Taiwan in miniature

Taiwanese artist Hank Cheng crafts incredible dioramas that are so realistic that you can almost imagine tiny people living inside them. Cheng made his first model five years ago when he was inspired to recreate a Japanese restaurant he frequently visited as a student. Before long, he became a master of his craft, and today he creates his dioramas full-time and sells them all over the world. Each completed diorama is crafted from wood, metal, and other recycled materials. Together, they form handmade props to bring them to life. In one piece, Cheng created countless miniature vinyl albums for a model of a record store, and in another, he crafted tiny glass bottles and a crate to complete a back alley scene. The talented artist can make just about anything. “When people ask me if there’s anything that I can’t make,” he says, “I jokingly say, ‘Only air and sunshine.’” () (Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to use my gimble in the exhibition so the video is not as smooth as I’d liked it to have been.)