Hong Kong food and fashion nostalgia inspire Canadian artist’s Hong Kong Baby Girl show
- Kitty Wong’s art is inspired by memories of Hong Kong street food and the fashion comic Miss 13 Dots. Some of her work is on show in city
Childhood memories of Hong Kong are a big source of inspiration for Canadian illustrator Kitty Wong.
Her series of infographics on the Hong Kong food scene, for instance, have titles such as Let’s go Cha Chaan Teng, Let’s go Street Food and Let’s go Asian Bakery. For Hongkongers they inspire nostalgia.
“I like to be inspired by this kind of nostalgic feeling,” Wong says, recalling visits with her mother to cha chaan teng – Hong Kong-style tea cafes – for tea and snacks.
Some of her art – including colourful paintings, illustrations and sketches – is on show in “Hong Kong Baby Girl” at Young Soy Gallery in Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, until August 25.
Traditional Hong Kong food was not the original focus of Wong’s art. She started drawing street food on a visit to New York several years ago. “But after I drew bagels, hot dogs, pretzels, then I was, like, OK, there’s nothing else I can draw,” she says
