In Turning to Wallpaper, lush, elegant language contrasts with the disturbing and at times gruesome imagery to create a collection that knows exactly how to haunt the reader. Wong’s words and artistry are vibrant with color, richly textured, defiant, and unapologetic in their boldness. Her speaker undertakes a spiritual journey of remembrance that transcends body, tradition, and even nation in the pursuit of authentic art—art that is constructed using radical acceptance of the past as a means to leave it all behind.
This is a story where no wounds are softened or left unconfronted.
Unconcerned with conventional beauty, it is undeniably beautiful.
About the Author
Heidi Wong is a poet and artist who grew up between Beijing, Hong Kong, and New York.
While specializing in expressionistic oil painting and hyper-realistic digital art, Heidi’s poetry is equally packed with intensity and boldness. Since posting her work on social media at 15 years old, she has developed a unique voice composed of the stark juxtaposition between surreal and macabre imagery with intimate and beautiful language.
Her third collection, Turning to Wallpaper, focuses on the idea of transcendence—transcending the silenced and demonized female body, conceptions of femininity and masculinity, tradition, and even nation in order to ultimately reconcile with and escape one’s past.
