Holly Wong
Shadow Body IV, 2023
Polyester tulle thread and map pins 60 x 48 x 4 inches
The works in my “Shadow Body” series, I use transparent fabrics with light reflective thread as a proxy for my mother’s spirit and a reminder of the permeable separation between the living and the dead. They also reflect my awareness of my aging body and the realization that I am now older than my mother was when she died at the age of 47. While there is a mourning aspect in these works, there is also a growing acceptance and celebration of my aging body.
Holly Wong
Shadow Body III, 2023
Polyester tulle thread and map pins 60 x 48 x 4 inches
The works in my “Shadow Body” series, I use transparent fabrics with light reflective thread as a proxy for my mother’s spirit and a reminder of the permeable separation between the living and the dead. They also reflect my awareness of my aging body and the realization that I am now older than my mother was when she died at the age of 47. While there is a mourning aspect in these works, there is also a growing acceptance and celebration of my aging body.
Holly Wong
Phoenix, 2021
Graphite on drafting film with sewing suspended with monofilament 132 x 132 inches
Phoenix is a suspended installation of graphite on drafting film with sewing. Using the visual elements of abstracted wings, this work was created during the pandemic lock down and demonstrates the notion of generating a new world from within.
Holly Wong
Body of Light, 2023
Silk, cotton and organza with LED lighting 8'H x 15'W x 6'D
Body of Light is a suspended installation of fabric and light. Holly Wong became attracted to working with reflective, transparent fabrics because it reminded her of the permeable separation between the living and the dead. In this public project for San Francisco Art Market, Wong created a quilt suspension, using a flat felled seam technique with silk, cotton, and netting, inspired by Korean Bojagi patchwork technique. She combined these ephemeral materials with LED strip lighting as a proxy for her mother’s rising spirit. The layers of pieced fabric are suspended over this light-spirit as a shroud or mourning cloth. Inspired by Chinese funeral customs, the quilt layers become burial blankets that are offered by the children of the deceased and layered upon their loved ones. The intent of this work is to reach out to the viewer with a spirit of healing.
Holly Wong
She, 2020
Colored pencil & graphite on drafting film, suspended from ceiling 10’W x 8’H x 12’D
“She” is an immersive installation rendered with colored pencil on hand cut drafting film. Created during the early days of the COVID pandemic lockdown, this work explores pre-Christian spirituality. The intense patterning of “She” reflects a celebration of life and of the resistance to limitations and norms. It is also a prayer for revolt against the limiting notions of beauty and body size. Bright, rich, and excessive, these colors reflect her hunger to embrace life’s full potential. Through this piece, I sought to celebrate all that is feminine and strong in me. It is a celebration of what I am, exactly the way I am vs. a shrinking away from myself. As I worked, I felt a kind of energy flow into me as if I was literally “drawing” down the energy or cultivating it in the work. Art for me is a lifesaving and life affirming action, which seems even more critical now than ever.
Holly Wong
Spiral Dance, 2020
Colored pencil & graphite on drafting film, suspended from ceiling 9’H x 12.5’W
The act of spiral dancing refers to a neopagan ritual of raising power in a community or group often in feminist Wiccan traditions. I am connecting to this tradition by making art that seeks to celebrate all that is feminine and strong in me. It is a celebration of what I am, exactly the way I am vs. a shrinking away from myself. As I worked, I felt a kind of energy flow into me as if I was literally "drawing" down the energy or cultivating it in the work. Art for me is a lifesaving and life affirming action. It seems even more critical now than ever.
Holly Wong
Quilt Suspension 1, 2022
Silk, cotton and organza with LED lighting 5’H x 5’W x 1.5’D
I am drawn to quilted or pieced fabrics as a proxy for the body. I choose to manipulate synthetic materials such as cellophane and dichroic film with natural fibers of silk and cotton, because of their transparent qualities that, when layered, remind me of my layered sense of my past as well as permeable separation between the living and the dead. There are many stories and fact becomes permeable. These works incorporate LED strip lighting interacts with the transparent quilt fabric. The linear element of the light is a kind of drawing for me as it fluidly moves through the quilt block structure. Moreover, this combination of ephemeral materials with LED strip lighting and diffusion film serves as a proxy for her mother’s spirit. The layers of pieced fabric are suspended over this light-spirit as a shroud or mourning cloth. Inspired by Chinese funeral customs, the quilt layers become burial blankets that are offered by the children of the deceased and layered upon their loved ones.
Holly Wong
Quilt Suspension 2, 2022
Silk, cotton and organza with LED lighting 5’H x 5’W x 1.5’D
I am drawn to quilted or pieced fabrics as a proxy for the body. I choose to manipulate synthetic materials such as cellophane and dichroic film with natural fibers of silk and cotton, because of their transparent qualities that, when layered, remind me of my layered sense of my past as well as permeable separation between the living and the dead. There are many stories and fact becomes permeable. These works incorporate LED strip lighting interacts with the transparent quilt fabric. The linear element of the light is a kind of drawing for me as it fluidly moves through the quilt block structure. Moreover, this combination of ephemeral materials with LED strip lighting and diffusion film serves as a proxy for her mother’s spirit. The layers of pieced fabric are suspended over this light-spirit as a shroud or mourning cloth. Inspired by Chinese funeral customs, the quilt layers become burial blankets that are offered by the children of the deceased and layered upon their loved ones.
Holly Wong
Quilt Suspension 3, 2023
Silk, cotton and organza with LED lighting 5’H x 5’W x 1.5’D
I am drawn to quilted or pieced fabrics as a proxy for the body. I choose to manipulate synthetic materials such as cellophane and dichroic film with natural fibers of silk and cotton, because of their transparent qualities that, when layered, remind me of my layered sense of my past as well as permeable separation between the living and the dead. There are many stories and fact becomes permeable. These works incorporate LED strip lighting interacts with the transparent quilt fabric. The linear element of the light is a kind of drawing for me as it fluidly moves through the quilt block structure. Moreover, this combination of ephemeral materials with LED strip lighting and diffusion film serves as a proxy for her mother’s spirit. The layers of pieced fabric are suspended over this light-spirit as a shroud or mourning cloth. Inspired by Chinese funeral customs, the quilt layers become burial blankets that are offered by the children of the deceased and layered upon their loved ones.
Holly Wong
Quilt Suspension 4, 2023
Silk, cotton and organza with LED lighting 5’H x 5’W x 1.5’D
I am drawn to quilted or pieced fabrics as a proxy for the body. I choose to manipulate synthetic materials such as cellophane and dichroic film with natural fibers of silk and cotton, because of their transparent qualities that, when layered, remind me of my layered sense of my past as well as permeable separation between the living and the dead. There are many stories and fact becomes permeable. These works incorporate LED strip lighting interacts with the transparent quilt fabric. The linear element of the light is a kind of drawing for me as it fluidly moves through the quilt block structure. Moreover, this combination of ephemeral materials with LED strip lighting and diffusion film serves as a proxy for her mother’s spirit. The layers of pieced fabric are suspended over this light-spirit as a shroud or mourning cloth. Inspired by Chinese funeral customs, the quilt layers become burial blankets that are offered by the children of the deceased and layered upon their loved ones.
