Kristen Wong in the Ramp Gallery

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Nothing You’ve Heard About Me Is True is a series of self portraits about mental illness that run parallel to her previous solo exhibition, Everything You’ve Heard About Me Is True. Nothing You’ve Heard owns up to and embraces the performative aspects of millennial selfie culture. Nothing You’ve Heard is a white lie, something that blatantly skirts around the truth. Nothing You’ve Heard was influenced in part by the current White House administration, particularly the way that administration perpetuates the notion that you could lie your way out of anything, that you could create an alternative reality in which facts aren’t facts. Nothing You’ve Heard is a show about Kristen Wong, but Nothing You’ve Heard is also a show about you and the minutia of your daily life: #NoFilter, #WokeUpLikeThis, #RelationshipGoals. Nothing You’ve Heardis the life Wong fantasizes about having and the life she fabricates through social media. Nothing You’ve Heard bridges the divide between the person you are and the person you want to be.

Kristen eats salad for every meal.

People describe her as chill, sporty, and fun.

Kristen never cries, and when she does, people tell her how beautiful she looks.

She never hits snooze, and she definitely doesn’t need your validation.

Listen to the artist talk about their work in their own words:

Meet the Artist
Kristen Wong will be at SOMArts on June 3rd , 6–9pm. Visit The Ramp Gallery for a chance to meet the artist, talk about their work and inspiration, have a drink and enjoy their awesome artwork!  Our cash bar will be available all evening.

About Kristen Wong
Kristen Wong (b. 1994) is a biracial Chinese-American artist who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. The conceptual backbone of Wong’s work is her experiences living with generalized anxiety disorder and bipolar disorder. She spent the majority of her formative years in a computer supply closet being raised by programmer parents, and she maintains those roots as she obsessively collects and archives memories using her cell phone camera and the screenshot function on her iPhone, instead of, say, keeping a traditional journal. Wong uses this documentation as fodder for what she chooses to depict in her paintings on paper and fabric.

She is currently thinking about tropes of abjection and the distortion of identity during episodes of mania and depression. Wong maintains an active non-fiction writing practice and publishes a monthly zine called “Crying at Kinkos”. She received a BFA with distinction from California College of the Arts majoring in Painting and Drawing, with a minor in Writing and Literature, in 2017. Wong lives and works in San Francisco with her partner, Alexandr, and her terrier mutt, Jimi Houndrix.

To learn more about her work, please visit her website or Instagram (@kristenwong)

About the Ramp Gallery

The Ramp Gallery accepts exhibition proposals on a continual basis. To purchase work on display or for more information email [email protected]. You can visit The Ramp Gallery any time SOMArts Cultural Center is open.

Image courtesy of Kristen Wong

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