Original artwork
Karla Wong (1974-)
You were Born to be Free, 2026
Oil on canvas
Print size
5 x 7 in.
About the artist
Karla Wong’s paintings are a love letter to her Mexican culture. They are interwoven with her life experiences as a trans woman, a person of Mexican and Chinese heritage, and of the journeys between her homes in the United States and Oaxaca.
Traditional Oaxacan clothing and landscapes integrated with odes to Chicago landmarks are often included in Wong’s paintings. Symbolic elements are hidden throughout each painting: balloons representing the unborn, birds for male genitalia, and apples and pears for forbidden fruit. Her vivid, dreamlike compositions, which evoke Victorian and Surrealist styles, are interlaced with themes of life and death, self-discovery, gender identity, and frequent portal archway motifs lead to mysterious places. Wong’s work portrays the beauty and harsh realities of being true to oneself.
