My practice is a response to my identity as a digital native, raised with gadgets, computers, and the internet.
As a multidisciplinary artist, my primary focus rests within printmaking and painting. Employing imagery and language from the Internet in physical mediums, I delve into the interplay between the digital landscape and human experience, aiming to foster dialogue on the evolving relationship between humanity and technology.
My ongoing project, "I am your meme dealer", uses traditional analogue intaglio printmaking to produce internet meme images. This fusion of the old and new highlights the evolution of visual communication and how it has transformed over time. In an age of advanced automation and mass production, the project revisits a dated technology that sets the foundations of image reproduction and juxtaposes it with internet-developed images to examine ideas such as effort, efficiency, convenience, and information dissemination.
Sunny Wong (b. 2000, Hong Kong) lives and works in Leeds, UK. Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Art & Design from the University of Leeds, Wong is a multidisciplinary artist whose primary focus rests within printmaking and painting. He is recognised for utilising imagery drawn from the digital landscape, employing internet language, and infusing humour within his work.
Central to Wong's artistic practice is a response to his identity as a digital native raised with gadgets, computers, and the internet. To him, art is a vehicle for personal reflection, delving into the interplay between the digital landscape and human experience to foster dialogue on the evolving relationship between humanity and technology. In his 2022 series "bruh... it is what it is...", Wong explored themes of vulnerability, connection, and mental health; he creatively blended painting with screen printing, using special graffiti tools to paint and approached silk screen stencils as mark-making implements to create compositions. Wong's ongoing project, "I am your meme dealer", employs analogue intaglio printmaking to produce internet meme images manually, juxtaposing the historical process with contemporary content to examine concepts such as effort, efficiency, convenience, and information dissemination.
Wong's work has been acknowledged through exhibitions and awards, notably showcased at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery and the East Street Arts Patrick Studios Project Space in Leeds, UK. With "bruh... it is what it is..." Wong became a finalist and exhibited in the 10th FUAM Graduate Art Prize, was awarded the School of Design Prize from the university, and secured the Graduate Award in Printmaking from Leeds Print Workshop and East Street Arts in 2022. He participated in the Graduate Award in Printmaking Residency - where he developed "I am your meme dealer" - and co-produced an exhibition as part of the award. He also participated in Affordable Art Fair Battersea Spring 2024, and his work is held in private collections.
Education
2018-2022 University of Leeds, BA Art & Design
Solo / Duo Exhibitions
2022 If you know what you know Do you know?, East Street Arts Project Space, Leeds, UK
Group Exhibitions
2024 Affordable Art Fair - Battersea Spring (with BANG), Evolution London, London, UK
2023 Collective Unconscious: An Assembly House Showcase, Seagulls Paint, Leeds, UK
2022 This IS a Laughing Matter, Old Red Bus Station, Leeds, UK
2022 FUAM Graduate Art Prize Exhibition, The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds, UK
2022 GARM.ENT Event, Headrow House, Leeds, UK
2022 Degree Show, University of Leeds School of Design, Leeds, UK
2022 DDDD (4D Collective) First Show, Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds, UK
Awards & Honours
2022 FUAM Graduate Art Prize (Finalist)
2022 Leeds Print Workshop: Graduate Award in Printmaking
2022 University of Leeds The School of Design Prize
Residencies
2022 Leeds Print Workshop, Leeds, UK
