Chelsea Ryoko Wong’s Ode To Mindfulness at Jessica Silverman

Though she doesn’t directly depict city-scapes, the tone of her compositions are alive with the vibrant and diverse personality found within the city. However, the 12 paintings featured in “Nostalgia for the Present Tense”— a mixture of acrylic, watercolor, and gouache— have come about following a series of broader world travels. 

Traversing with Wong from East Asia to Europe, and North Africa to California, simple joys are always at the forefront, while the scenes’ natural backdrops keep shifting, conveying the importance of community and human connection. 

In “A Work That Outlives Me” (2024), inspired in part by Morocco and Tunisia, a viewer can parse out an outdoor market with hanging rugs, drapes, and fabrics. Even though one might be drawn to the dynamic, almost abstract colors making up the painting’s location, the real intention reveals the market as a frame. Without the relaxed man reclining in his colorful outfit, or the eager and smiling shopper, the beautiful surrounding environment would be an empty, quiet shell. 

Though Wong’s subjects can be viewed as flat creatures, often seen only from their side profile, a dynamic use of the setting and objects gives the paintings an inviting depth of perspective. Sometimes, this depth arrives as a kind of pathway, and gradient hues allow the eye to travel as freely as the figures in her painting.

In “Modest Flirtations” (2024), a few bathers can be found at the bottom of the canvas, embroidering the edge of the two-tone pool. As we see a swath of figures swimming, chatting, and walking, the viewer also notices three large, circular shapes with diamonds within them. 

We can imagine that the shapes are Wong’s rendition of indoor mosaics, but something about the chosen colors makes them seem like doorways or windows; they open up the landscape and dispel any stagnation from entering the painting’s composition. 

If artistic craft is a participation in the study of color, light, and embodied emotion, Wong’s pieces want to explore the importance and accumulation of momentary exchange. Her canvases not only speak to the value of community, but they remind us that mutual care has immense power. 

We as individuals have the capacity to participate in these moments and become a part of creating something larger than us. Wong’s instances of social harmony will be on view at Jessica Silverman in San Francisco until September 7th.