Faculty
Evelyn Wong (she/they) is an interdisciplinary artist exploring themes of history, trauma, culture, race, and gender through the lens of personal narratives as well as her Asian American heritage. As a first-generation Chinese American, a survivor of multigenerational trauma, a native to the American South, and currently a resident of New England, Wong believes that the culmination of experiences in her life presents her with a unique perspective on what it means to be part of the Asian diaspora in America.
Wong actively pursues investigations into materiality, text, Western and Chinese imagery and symbolism as ways to reflect on the liminality of existing between cultures. Their explorations using artist’s books as a conceptual device reference Chinese and Asian American topics, including histories and narratives, legends and mythology, as well as culture and traditions, in order to bring visibility to the presence of this diasporic population in the United States. Their experimentations in papermaking, alternative printmaking, and installation art often reference and celebrate the artist’s book.
Wong’s work has been exhibited recently in the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. Others include the Northern Arizona University Art Museum in Flagstaff, Arizona, the Portland Museum of Art in Portland, Maine, and the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco, California. Residencies include Hewnoaks, The Studios at MASS MoCA, and the Ellis-Beauregard Foundation Artist’s Residency Program. Wong received her BFA from the University of South Carolina and MFA from Maine College of Art, and was awarded the 2019 Professional Development and Creative Entrepreneurship Grant at Maine College of Art to launch Fireball Bookbindery, where she currently crafts hand-bound journals and notebooks inspired by Asian traditions in materials, designs, and book-bindings.
Wong is a recipient of the 2023 Waterville Creates Community-Centered Arts Programming and the Summer 2023 Maine Humanities Council Mini grant awards to create programming alongside of community partners to host a series of activities, performances, and workshops to celebrate the 2024 Lunar New Year at the new Paul J. Schupf Arts Center in Waterville, Maine.