by Tong Zheng
Oil on Canvas
24” x 24”
$1,800
Light transforms an ordinary rainy street into a place of quiet wonder. Warm illumination contrasts with geometric color fields, dissolving the boundary between reality and memory. Reflections and layered color invite viewers to experience light not only as something seen, but as something felt.
Artist Biography:
Tong Zheng is a Chinese-born artist based in Irvine, California, and an MFA candidate in Painting at Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD). After an earlier career outside the arts, she returned to painting with a practice that bridges the philosophy of Chinese ink painting and contemporary oil painting.
Her work explores memory, migration, identity, and transformation through layered compositions that combine abstraction with recognizable forms. Zheng has exhibited throughout Southern California, including the Irvine Fine Arts Center, TAG Gallery, Dama Gallery, and the Southern California Women's Caucus for Art. Her paintings have received juried awards, including First Place in Layers – Exploring Depth in Contemporary Art. Through painting, she seeks to create spaces for contemplation where viewers may encounter both the external world and their own inner landscape.
Artist Statement:
I paint to explore the spaces where memory, place, and identity intersect. My work begins with observation but moves beyond representation, transforming lived experience into layered visual narratives. Drawing from both Chinese ink painting and contemporary oil painting, I build surfaces through transparent glazes, fragmented forms, and shifting light, allowing the image to emerge gradually rather than be imposed. Having returned to art after another career, I approach painting as a lifelong practice of discovery rather than certainty. I am interested in moments of quiet transition—the spaces between presence and absence, movement and stillness, memory and becoming. Rather than providing answers, my paintings invite viewers to slow down, reflect, and experience the subtle emotional resonance that exists beneath everyday life.
by Tong Zheng
Oil on Canvas
24” x 24”
$1,800
Light transforms an ordinary rainy street into a place of quiet wonder. Warm illumination contrasts with geometric color fields, dissolving the boundary between reality and memory. Reflections and layered color invite viewers to experience light not only as something seen, but as something felt.
Artist Biography:
Tong Zheng is a Chinese-born artist based in Irvine, California, and an MFA candidate in Painting at Laguna College of Art and Design (LCAD). After an earlier career outside the arts, she returned to painting with a practice that bridges the philosophy of Chinese ink painting and contemporary oil painting.
Her work explores memory, migration, identity, and transformation through layered compositions that combine abstraction with recognizable forms. Zheng has exhibited throughout Southern California, including the Irvine Fine Arts Center, TAG Gallery, Dama Gallery, and the Southern California Women's Caucus for Art. Her paintings have received juried awards, including First Place in Layers – Exploring Depth in Contemporary Art. Through painting, she seeks to create spaces for contemplation where viewers may encounter both the external world and their own inner landscape.
Artist Statement:
I paint to explore the spaces where memory, place, and identity intersect. My work begins with observation but moves beyond representation, transforming lived experience into layered visual narratives. Drawing from both Chinese ink painting and contemporary oil painting, I build surfaces through transparent glazes, fragmented forms, and shifting light, allowing the image to emerge gradually rather than be imposed. Having returned to art after another career, I approach painting as a lifelong practice of discovery rather than certainty. I am interested in moments of quiet transition—the spaces between presence and absence, movement and stillness, memory and becoming. Rather than providing answers, my paintings invite viewers to slow down, reflect, and experience the subtle emotional resonance that exists beneath everyday life.
