Karla Wong

Karla Wong’s work is a love letter to her Mexican culture, drawing on her life experiences, her identity as a trans woman and the landscape of her dreams. Born in Veracruz in 1974 to parents from Oaxaca, Wong immigrated to the Chicago area in 2016. She maintains a strong connection to Mexico, continuously traversing between her native and adopted countries. 

Although she graduated from the Benito Juarez De Oaxaca University of Law, a lifelong interest in drawing led her to work as a forensic and witness sketch artist for the general prosecution and justice department, drawing facial reconstructions and composites. Wong’s interest-turned-passion led her to develop a more serious art practice, trading in her pencils for oil paints. Her artwork is a vivid blend of traditional Oaxacan elements with Victorian style influences; Surrealist in nature, the work explores themes of life and death, gender identity, self-discovery, and dream-like portal archways leading to mysterious places.