Chelsea Ryoko Wong
Picking Mussels for Dinner
2022
Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 36 inches, Museum Purchase
Chelsea Ryoko Wong is a painter and muralist whose vibrant figure compositions reflect the diversity and style of her home in San Francisco. Her work is known for celebrating racial and cultural diversity and promoting working-class communities through depictions of everyday life. The ocean figures prominently in her paintings as a space of connection and curiosity. Her heavily stylized imagery creates a hopeful visual statement promoting joy, acceptance, and openness to one another.
Wong offered to paint this painting for inclusion in our recent Pacific Rise: Ocean Health exhibition. The saturated hues of the sunset and the gathering of a diverse group to celebrate the coastal environment brought a welcome optimism to the exhibition.
