Laughing In The Purple Rain

Material: Acrylic on canvas

Nancy Tong's art practice explores themes connect to her childhood memories, everyday life experiences and identity using painting, installation, sculpture, video, and public art. Tong began to create abstract paintings while studying at art school and her work suffuses with East and West mixed cultures.  

Tong's work merges a long artistic tradition of Chinese ink art with the science of folding. The three-dimensional-based painting in this latest work - 'Fold', is full of sensuality and tactility.  The artworks are spontaneous, harmonic and abstract composition borne out of destructive action. 

 
Memory is the cornerstone of the work. Some of Tong's earliest childhood memories are of her father working on his revolutionary design for carton packaging. The art of folding precipitated the nexus of activities in her childhood years. The intensity paint in juxtaposition onto raw canvas, echoes the ink on rice paper found in Chinese ink art.  Geometrical shapes are her starting point for an exploration of space and form.  Tong converts fold into space and form, combining notions from the traditional Chinese ink art and contemporary art into her own geometric, organic sculptural work. Each of her works involve a constant dialogue with the material through the intimate feeling of artist’s hands, to bring out the dynamism within via folding.