About me

Vivian Tong is a Chinese American figurative artist building imaginary homes within in-between spaces. Her melancholy motifs and tones draw from feminist surrealism, early 20th century children’s book illustrations, and East Asian urban legends. Motivated by the desire to understand and explore the universal humanity found in physical and psychological spaces of unsettling uncertainty, primal fears, and marginality, her figures in liminal spaces, “marginalia,” live out their personal urban legends in eerie dreamscapes that have neither beginning nor end. Throughout these somber scenes, seemingly unusual yet familiar patterns and objects are scattered- calling to mind limbo spaces and the feelings of simultaneous anxiety, awe, curiosity, and dread they can provoke.

Born and raised in San Francisco, Vivian works as an archivist by day and artist by night. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Provo, UT; and New York City, NY. Additionally, she has exhibited at pop culture events and fairs across the United States. She has an MA in Museum Studies and a BFA and has previously worked with the Chinese Historical Society, SFO Museum, and YBCA. She has also volunteered as a juror for ApexArt, a visiting artist lecturer at San Francisco State University, board member with Open SF History, and archivist with Chinese Culture Center.

Her clients include Copic, Hot Topic, Judge & Jury Records, Bay Area Rising, and more.