Today we’d like to introduce you to Miggie Wong.
Miggie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Being born and raised in Hong Kong, I’ve grown accustomed to being a goer. I am curious about the world beyond the city and want to be a global citizen.
I left Hong Kong at age 17 to The Netherlands as a cultural exchange student. I then migrated to Los Angeles where I received my Bachelor of Fine Art, naturalized US citizenship, and established a career. In March 2020, I transitioned to Buffalo NY as my second home and arrived just one week before the city officially locked down due to the pandemic.
I create situation-based performance projects. My intercultural experiences across several countries have diversified my artistic awareness, coupled with my own ideals. As such, I offer whimsical experiments that explore and document ideas of social interaction, cultural mutation, radical hospitality, and acts of sincerity.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
What challenges me the most is that I have been unable to fully familiarize myself with this new city (Buffalo NY) due to the pandemic. As stay-at-home orders have been mandatory for the majority of my time here, establishing connections with the community and locating a homey, Cantonese cafe’ like the one in San Gabriel Valley has been a challenge. Because of this reality, I turned my challenges into a creative project, my drawing series: 100 Huis on Delaware Ave Project.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Drawing houses has been the main part of my art practice. Previous projects like Sewing on Houses showcases the complex nature of today’s cultural mutations and human relations. The images of buildings are references from personal memories and reflections upon the relationship between architectural design across cultures and history, human communication, and hardships in relationships.
My current drawing series 100 Huis on Delaware Ave Project publishes a collection of mementos and forward momentum during Covid19. As a new arrival prior to the Pandemic, Buffalo’s historical Delaware Avenue has become essential for my nearest routine walk and the initial inspiration for this drawing project. The process of drawing these 100 reimagined houses shapes my new adapted daily structure with labor and discipline. It motivates my daily art practice with a strict drawing schedule and guidelines. It also urges me to review history and culture while recording and creating my own for today. This project serves as a psychological response of how I cope with this global, uncontrollable intensity by creating a personal, controllable intensity. When the project is finished, it will be published as a postcard coloring book for people to continue to reimagine these houses in their own way.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My childhood in Hong Kong was full of agendas and activities. Every Chinese New Year, my dad would take our family on a trip. In the weekends, I would take the ferry to visit my grandparents in Lamma Island. There I would wander around the village and ride my bike full speed down a steep hill. As an unacademic child, I spent a lot of my time playing and making art. The confidence and joy I gained from making art helped me to get through the strictly disciplined private school I attended. Collectively, I have so many great memories being with my family and being creative, but what I enjoyed the most was spending majority of my time being alone daydreaming. Those are my favorite moments.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.miggiewong.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mwhouses/
Image Credit:
Miggie Wong
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