Pei San Ng is one of six children that immigrated to the United states from Taiwan in the early eighties. The third daughter of a translator and pattern maker she grew up in East LA and followed several of her siblings to study Biology at UCLA. After working in several laboratories in California she decided science was not her only passion her interest in plants and natural patterns lead her to explore first exterior then interior design and eventually architecture.
Pei received her Masters in Architecture in 2008 from the university of Illinois at Chicago. While in Chicago Pei got in on the entry level of a blossoming artist collective called the Chicago Art Department. This concept based studio/gallery offered her not only collaborators but also exhibition opportunities.
Pei San Ng’s artworks blend the regularity of the mass produced unit with the elegance of the hand drawn line. Her works are clean and precise. “I like to design with modules. In the past I have created installations using dozens of identical Ikea lamps or Mason jars. These modules end up resembling pixels that form icons or symbols.” The urban landscape has always been an inspiration, both professionally and creatively.
Miss Ng’s most recent work uses the red tipped match as the module. “In Chinese culture red is a very lucky color, matches evoke danger. I think that by mixing those two messages the audience is forced to take a second or third look. I want to tempt the viewer to destroy my artwork.”
