Meet Tong Wang | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tong Wang and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tong, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
My creative journey stems from my childhood experiences, as I’ve always been a sensitive individual. I’ve harbored a deep curiosity for the divine and supernatural phenomena in my surroundings. While my temperament has been tinged with pessimism and melancholy since childhood, there’s a glimmer of romanticism within my soul. These elements have collectively shaped my artistic style, infusing it with self-conflict and a sense of fragmentation, intertwined with glimpses of romance. It’s as if within destruction, there lies a spark of hope.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My making process of each piece reflects the contradictions between natural factors and artificial creation. I melted resin with hot water before pouring it onto the canvas and molding it by hand. Once the resin is concretized, I paint the piece with acrylics and let it dry. I am the designer of the entire process, coming up with ideas, searching for materials, and actively shaping the model according to my own will. However, the other part of this process is highly attributed to natural factors: the chemical reactions of resins, interactions among molecules in different types of mediums, and the traces left by the acrylic naturally. It is the work of both human hands and Nature’s aids, and the creation process is like a ritual – purifying the inspirations in the air and condensing them on the ground to achieve “accidental beauty.” In my art piece, I employ my will to reconstruct the battle scene, representing my inner conflict against evil spirits in a spiritual-making process with my apocalyptic consciousness.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I will invite my friends to join me at a gothic-inspired, abandoned church filled with broken dolls, which serve as my source of creative inspiration. I hope to share this place with my friends.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am thankful for the various characters or spirits that appear in my dreams, as each of them has given me a lot of inspiration for my artwork. For example, my artwork “The Battle that Ended the Century” demonstrates my doubts about supernatural power on my journey of self-exploration. The canvas resembles a battlefield with unidentified “leftovers” representing evil spirits. The sporadic blue pigment symbolizes water, which heals the wounds of miserable war memories and brings new life. I recall a dream where someone told me that, with the intervention of a guardian angel, everything would ultimately be healed and reunited in the next life cycle.

Website: https://wangtongcd97.wixsite.com/mysite/painting

Instagram: @tongwangw

Image Credits
credit by Tong Wang