Ancestral Visions: An Installation by Chelsea Ryoko Wong at OMCA
Fashion, family histories, and personal identity intersect in a new installation at OMCA by Bay Area artist Chelsea Ryoko Wong. Wong’s energetic and colorful paintings, drawn from both real-life events and her imagination, depict busy, rhythmic scenes of people going about their daily lives.
For this project, Wong’s paintings take inspiration from dresses owned by six 20th century Chinese American women, whose clothing and legacies live on in OMCA’s collection. Ancestral Visions features paintings along with a selection of the fashions that inspired them.
Visitors to the installation are invited into the world of the dresses and the women who wore them to ponder history, the value of what we wear to future generations, and the role of clothing as an expression of identity. Dresses that belonged to Rose Setzo, Sophia Chang Wong, Grace Dea, Lei Kim Lim, Chop Chin Chum, and Sun Fung Lee Wong caught Wong’s eye and are re-envisioned in the abstract narratives of her vibrant work.
Ancestral Visions is on view through February 1, 2026 and can be found in our Gallery of California Art.
This installation is made possible by the Harker Fund Artist Residency Program.
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