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text by Sylvia Mendoza<\/strong> S<\/span>omewhere between bright colors and soft hues, free flowing abstracts and pronounced definition, \u201cEast meets West\u201d<\/em><\/strong> in a culture clash that makes the art of Lucille Wong<\/strong> speak its own language. Whether she\u2019s working on themes revolving around landscapes and nature, volcanoes and horses, nudes and human figures or using Sumi-E or abstract formats, one thing is for sure\u2014art is a way of expressing thoughts and concepts\u2014and of finding her place in a world where the paintbrush is her microphone and the canvas is her stage.<\/p>\n \u201cI like to speak with this language,\u201d<\/em> Wong says. \u201cIt is a silent language. No words are needed to express the invisible. Painting uncovers the unknown in an instant. It is a path of growth. Art becomes life, like the air I breathe.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Wong captures the essence of her upbringing\u2014Chinese on one side of the family, Mexican and Texan on the other\u2014and produces a unique blend of art and living. Raised in Mexico, her four grandparents and parents formed a solid platform of values and work ethic and embraced love, individuality, intuition and intelligence.<\/p>\n Art started as a daily basis in kindergarten. \u201cSitting at my small table, I suddenly detected above my head, a hand carrying a basket full of crayons. The smell and colors are still with me.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n That passion took root and never wavered as she pursued a degree in modern literature from National Autonomous University in Mexico (UNAM) and a master\u2019s degree in English literature at the University of Kent, England, while taking courses on Oriental culture at the Colegio de Mexico. Ultimately, every course she took, every place she traveled to, every teacher she studied under, influenced her work by \u201cenriching her thematic cycles and world vision.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n During her time in England, however, she quit painting for a whole year. \u201cIt became inconceivable and painful,\u201d<\/em> she says. \u201cI decided that my true language was painting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n She also decided she would open her own studio and paint, no matter what. Before going home, she spent time in Florence, which fortified her decision. \u201cThe great master was the city itself.\u201d<\/em> Day by day, step by step, she enjoyed and learned from all the works of art that graced her path.<\/p>\n The colors and image stayed with her.
\nphotos by Miguel M\u00e9ndez D\u00edaz and Octavio Wong<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Lucille](\"https:\/\/mexmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Lucille-Wong-g.jpg\")
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\u201cI can recall strong, industrious and hardworking persons,\u201d<\/em> she says. \u201cNo matter trial or struggle, they were always there to help and bring joy for life.\u201d<\/em> They detected and believed in her artistic talent early on. \u201cI have beautiful memories of both of them: my mother teaching me to apply soft colors delicately with a piece of cotton, and my father giving me a small paintbox that he still kept from his childhood. And the three of us trying to copy a small boat painting by Monet.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n![\"Lucille](\"https:\/\/mexmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Lucille-Wong-d.jpg\")
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Finally, in Sicily, on the top of Mt. Etna, the highest volcano in Europe, she had an epiphany as nature rendered elementary colors\u2014red, blue, and yellow, along with the purest black and white\u2014and she translated the palette with a need to make it her own. \u201cThe clear sky was deep blue, sulfur on the ground was mordent and yellow, a red spot was behind me. The clouds, like cotton balls, were bright white, and the crater was deep, deep black.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Since then she has participated in 37 individual exhibitions and in more than 150 collective \u2013 throughout Mexico, the United States, Canada, Chile, Panama, France, Spain, Italy Switzerland, Sweden and Japan. She staged her first individual exhibition in 1974 and others followed. Using a variety of methods and top quality materials like acid-free or handmade papers, and original pigments, her art has grown a reputation as \u201cmillenarian Oriental art and modern impressionism.\u201d<\/em> Studying abroad and in workshops with Robin Bond, Guillermo Santi, Koyo Okamoto and Luis Nishizawa, among others, it was a time of discovery.<\/p>\n
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