Artist Chung (Fanky) Chak's current series, "The Boxes," intends to illustrate stereotypes among people as well as to help him understand his new home -- the United States. As a foreigner who came to the United States in his early 20s, Chak became fascinated by imagining what happens behind the beautiful windows of Broadway in New York City. "Looking from the outside, and imagining the inside" was the initial concept behind "The Boxes" series.

While visiting Hong Kong in 2003, Chak began thinking about the nature of life in large cities, particularly in his native city. Looking out his window from the twentieth floor of a high-rise building, Chak began to reflect on the compartmentalization of life in Hong Kong. This idea seemed to be reflected visually as a grid, constructed by hundreds of nearly identical windows in close proximity to each other. For Chak, each window became representative of an individual or family. The visual grid seemed to be echoed in the rectangular shape of televisions, visible through the windows, all broadcasting the same image.

Chak's childhood experience in Hong Kong and his admiration for New York City led him to believe that the chaotic and overwhelming, yet glamorous and energetic city life was the ideal lifestyle for everyone.

People often make stereotypical comments like "New Yorkers are all like this" or "Chinese are all like that," while Chak is intolerant of judging or labeling based on prejudice and stereotypes, he does use these associations to construct narratives in his artwork. Chak then leaves it up to the viewer to decide whether or not these stereotypes are true.