Elaine K. Ng makes artwork and writes to explore the entangled relationships between how we form knowledge and our understandings of place, and the ways in which this information lives, moves, and morphs. Her projects take shape organically around multi-faceted inquires, combining material investigation with archival research and close observation of sites and objects. As a first-generation American, she is greatly influenced by her bilingual upbringing and thinks of her interdisciplinary practice as ongoing efforts in translation. She is driven by a curiosity about the intangible, non-verbal information that creates context, as well as a love of fundamental material culture and ecology. The resulting works span a broad range of media, examining both the potential of our environment to hold meaning and the possibilities for different ways of knowing.
Elaine is the recipient of a U.S. Fulbright Fellowship for research in Taiwan, and she has been a fellow at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, a resident at the Djerassi Resident Artist Program, and a Guest Artist at the Corning Museum of Glass. She exhibits internationally and has lectured and held visiting positions at NSCAD University, Tainan National University of the Arts, and the China Academy of Art. She holds a BA from the University of California, Davis, an MBA/MA from Southern Methodist University, and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art.