Artist
Jean Wong (she/ her) is an artist based in Philadelphia, PA, also known as unceded Leni Lenape land. Grounded in observational painting, drawing, and research, Jean explores the invisible and hidden technological infrastructures, urban planning, and architectural movements that shape international politics and condition interpersonal connections. Speaking from the position of a Singaporean woman, Jean’s work illuminates the role of Southeast Asian developmental projects in regional and global economics, paying close attention to issues of labor.
Jean is part of NATT-art, a curatorial collective dedicated to research and art in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Her work has been shown in the United States, Canada, and Southeast Asia at The Workhouse Arts Center, VA, the Singapore Art Book Fair, Ace House Collective, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, among others. Her research has been included in publications such as MoMA Post and ArtsAsiaPacific and presented at the Cambridge-Columbia Graduate Symposium.
Photo: Ray Bailey
Educator
Jean is a teaching artist specializing in observational and plein air drawing and painting. Her lessons are rooted in liberative classroom pedagogies, and she empowers her students to use drawing and painting tools for close looking, critical thinking, and empathetic study. Students are encouraged to draw what they see—taking into consideration their positionality, moods, and perspective—as opposed to rendering “subjects” “faithfully”. Jean aims to nurture students’ confidence in researching and critiquing the world around them beyond academia.
Jean currently teaches visual arts to K-12 students with Community-Word Project, NY, Teach with GIVE, NY, and CUNY Lehman Art Gallery, NY. Previously, she was a teaching artist at The National Gallery in Singapore. Private in-person and remote classes are available upon request.
Jean is also an experienced art history, contemporary art, and visual studies tutor. She has prepared numerous middle- and high-school level students for academic competitions such as the Concord Review, Redwood Scholastic, and the John Locke Essay Competition.
She received her BA in Fine Arts (Painting) and Art History from Bard College and her MA in Modern and Contemporary Art: Critical and Curatorial Studies from Columbia University, NY. She was awarded the Art History Travel Prize from Bard College, and the Thesis Research Award and the Caleb Smith Memorial Fellowship from Columbia University for academic excellence.
Send class inquiries here.