I was born and raised in California, and have been an artist for as long as I can remember. I studied Visual Development at Art Center College of Design in Southern California, which has strongly impacted my gallery work. My paintings are often described as Pop Surrealism, with strong stylistic influences in animation. Currently, I work on the creative end of film advertising designing, editing and finishing movie posters and billboards for most of the major film and animation studios.
Formally known in the art world as Rachel J Wong, I recently got married and decided to make the big leap and change my name. Until now, I have only sold original paintings privately and through galleries. With the new name change, I decided it was time to start selling high quality reprints of my works, hence the opening of this Etsy shop!
In 2005, I first began exhibiting my own work at group shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco. I was initially experimenting with using different mediums of paper, ink, found objects, and paints, and I finally landed on an original technique of using acrylic and paper on canvas that makes my work unique.
My creative process has evolved dramatically from how I first used to paint. Everywhere I went I carried around a sketchbook drawing creatures from my imagination that would then be transformed with paint. Now, I invest a lot more time in developing vulgar, satirical concepts. Most of my work involves a lot of symbolism, and I make sure it is relevant to the ideas I try to convey.
All of my paintings have a narrative or theme behind each one, whether it’s my sarcastic opinion on current politics, family values, or the daily frustrations we all encounter – all of which is usually expressed in some twisted manner through some strange characters and situations.
My first and foremost goal whenever I paint is to make the viewer laugh, and I rarely paint subject matter that doesn’t initiate a strong reaction one way or another. I think this is important because I want my work to leave an impact on people and make them form their own opinions about what I could possibly be trying to say through my paint brush. When I sit back and view what I’ve painted, I know I’ve done the job right when I laugh to myself and realize how absurd my creation is. I love what I do, and I sincerely hope you enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it!
