Sandra Wong Orloff

I make graphite and ink drawings of people with abstract watercolor elements. I use photos for reference, some I've taken, some shared with me, and some online. I am interested in how we share ourselves, what we present to the world and how we look at each other. If there are themes to my work, something that carries through for me, it’s finding beauty through challenging times and harder or painful moments. The watercolor lines evolved out of play, and exploration of the push and pull that develops between the figures and the abstracted backgrounds. The lines represent many things, colorful landscapes, the weight of the times and world, the interconnectedness of the every day, the energy of the body and the universe, the unknowable aspect of the future.

BIO
Sandra Wong Orloff earned a BFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute and a MFA in Fine Arts from Mills College. She was included in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts first Bay Area Now and awarded an Artist-In-Residence Grant from the San Francisco Arts Council. She was a founding member with Gina Gaiser of the artists collective Ben Dunne Presents, producing pop-up art exhibitions and events. In 2023 she joined Manna Gallery in Uptown Oakland. She has taught artmaking to young people, exhibited her artwork here and there and continues to explore her creative process in Oakland, CA.