Written by Yinsey Wang

Natalie Wong is the Founder and Creative Director behind PAPERSNEAKER, a multidisciplinary design studio. It boasts a portfolio of international clients and collaborators, including Nike, Victoria's Secret, KFC, Monster Energy Drink, Warner Brothers, Astrazeneca and Hong Kong Land. Lucky to come across Natalie’s work through a mutual friend, I was intrigued with the versatility in her striking range of work.

Natalie translates her experiences into visual landscapes and unique installations, as well as innovative objects of art. Her pieces have been featured in publications such as GQ, Esquire, HYPEBEAST, Highsnobiety, Marie Claire, ELLE, MISSBISH, CreativeBoom, Business Insider and Lifestyle Asia. One of her most notable series is her viral ‘100 Paper Sneakers’ project, which consists of 100 individual paper sneaker sculptures. Despite her hectic schedule as an entrepreneur, artist and activist, Natalie kindly spoke to me about her work, insights and journey.

Natalie is just as multi-faceted has her art. As a friend, I find I am always discovering something new about Natalie, whether she is belting out Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” (like a pro!) to a live audience at an open karaoke night, pushing hard for a new charity drive or experimenting with animation. She has dabbled in fashion buying (for Crazy Rich Asians!) and is even a former law student. Furthermore, Natalie looks to challenge stereotypes and combat racism. She spoke out in a Huffpost article in 2021 about her experiences dealing with the rise of coronavirus-related prejudice, and she co-founded an organisation known as Voice ESEA with likeminded individuals (for which I am grateful to be working on with her) to create greater awareness, launching a petition to UK Parliament which obtained over 22,000 signatures. For Natalie, “racism is something that needs to be fought continuously. Although we've made significant progress compared to 50 years ago, racism keeps mutating, especially with tech platforms and social media. Diversity, equality and inclusion are key to developing a community that is understanding, compassionate and provides equal life opportunities for all”.

Hoping to channel her art into doing good, Natalie was invited by South China Morning Post to join other artists to contribute non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for an auction in aid of this year’s Operation Santa Claus, one of the largest charitable donation drives in Hong Kong. Her ability to move seamlessly between traditional and digital mediums is impressive. When I asked Natalie if she could pick a favourite medium, she was unable to commit, noting she tends to “marry the medium to the subject matter of the artwork” that she is creating. In doing that, “it's like having another layer of meaning within the work that's more subtle”.

No article on Natalie Wong would be complete without discussing her ‘100 Paper Sneakers’ project, which also forms the basis of her design studio’s name. The project featured in the documentary 'Unbanned - the Legend of AJ1' alongside global icons including Spike Lee, Phil Knight, Tinker Hatfield, Mark Wahlberg and Michael Jordan, and it premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival in New York. It stemmed from Natalie’s interest in sneaker culture and how and how sneaker collectors turned a fashion item into an art form. Natalie noted that it really fascinated her “to understand why people would buy footwear but not actually wear them”. In exploring themes of “cultivating identity through consumption”, she wanted to bring to light “how people buy the meanings of objects rather than the object itself”. Natalie’s idea behind this project was to create a collection of sneakers that represented what a real sneaker collector would do. For example, she was able to re-interpret the Air Jordan One, a homage to the sneaker that is many believe launched sneaker culture in the mid-1980s. Leveraging papercrafts, Natalie showcases colourful, fun and childhood nostalgia in treating this subject matter.

Natalie’s work is never the same; it is continuing developing, adapting and evolving. I find it fascinating she cannot pick a favourite medium and experimentation tends to lead her to all sorts of new artistic dimensions. What is consistent however, is how Natalie seems to make pieces with cultural, whether localised or global, connotations. I would speculate whether it comes from Natalie’s outlook from splitting her time between Hong Kong and London. Natalie noted that “both cities are amazing in their own unique ways. Hong Kong is intense, efficient and it's easy to meet people. As a creative, original ideas and inspiration are so important and I find interacting with many people can spark exciting projects. Personally, I find it easier to network in Hong Kong. Having said that, London has a more diverse group of people who are more open in terms of expression, they are willing to take more risks and have access to better cultural infrastructures, such as with breadth of museums, galleries and art colleges”.

Even the neon signs of Hong Kong become a point of artistic interaction for Natalie. She created a series of 12 neon portraits featuring iconic rappers such as Kanye West. She infused these signs in an innovative way, converting drawings of these rappers into these signs, with such drawings freely made as if to mimic the freestyling of rap. For Natalie, “art is about connecting the dots”. She notes the challenges of finding things that are “truly original”. However, she enjoys “connecting seemingly unconnected ideas and concepts together into a cohesive narrative that engages the audience and has something new to say”. For Natalie, it is “extremely satisfying to create something that prompts an emotion from a viewer”.

The series also draws Natalie’s youth where rap, hip hop and R&B were big influences on her. She fondly recalls how rappers would showcase “bravado and braggadocio” in sharp lyrics and phrases. Natalie was always mesmerised by their word play and confidence. She notes “hip hop had artists like Lauryn Hill who made you explore your feelings in every syllable when they sang and articulated emotions you couldn't express yourself. With some musicians, I liked how lyrically they could be vulnerable but powerful at the same time. Although I tend to side-step directly addressing personal emotions in my own art, emotions are where inspiration and creativity come from. Forms of expression, whether it be in music or art have always been connected.” What is beautiful is that she is able to bring these references and reconcile them with something from her upbringing in Hong Kong.

A self-proclaimed glutton, Natalie notes that food her favourite thing about Hong Kong. She remarks as with the stereotypical Hong Konger, she is “obsessed with food and there is just so much good food in Hong Kong. Be it dim sum, roast goose, claypot rice, hot pot or fresh seafood... I love it all”. Reminiscing about her love of walks, she thinks of a place near where she lives in Hong Kong, near “an ocean promenade bordered by leafy green mountains”. She prizes the quiet there, where she can decompress, particularly as she is prone to overthinking.

Natalie’s path has taken many interesting routes. She was also a buyer on ground-breaking Hollywood film, Crazy Rich Asians, where the main leads were East and South-East Asian, a huge win for representation within this demographic. Reflecting on the experience, Natalie noted that for her, representation is important; Natalie wanted to make sure she ensure that “visually, all the characters looked the part”. Natalie notes her team took “rich colour palettes, fabric textures and accessories from Peranakan Chinese culture and subtly translated them into contemporary fashion edits for the film's costumes”. She had the opportunity to work with Mary Vogt (acting as costume supervisor, who also designed on Michelle Pfiffer's Catsuit in Batman and worked on Pirates of the Caribbean) who contacted the Peranakan Association. Women from the Association actually ended up in the firm, wearing their own 'museum quality' costumes.  Natalie reflects on this experience that she considers an honour, noting that “Mary taught me so much about matching costumes and colours for narratives and personalities. She was also great at keeping the whole team calm whilst everyone was working like mad to meet all the crazy deadlines!”

Dynamic, talented and passionate, Natalie has done much to create new art forms to bring together, in my view, a wonderful synergy of cultures and sub-cultures. Paving the way for greater representation in the art world of East Asian creators, I find it powerful that Natalie also take seriously the need for greater advocacy. For her, “one of the most valuable things individuals can do to help combat racism is to understand how to help victims of racism and discrimination. Attending bystander training sessions to learn how to diffuse situations or provide support when you see someone being harassed. Even if other people don't do anything, the fact that people see you doing something is so important.” To me, that is truly compelling; Natalie’s work is bold, striking and resonating across borders, and I think her worldview is too. 

About the writer, Yinsey Wang

A lawyer by profession, but a creator at heart, Yinsey Wang is a UK-based, multi-faceted hobbyist. Her primary outlet is modelling fairytale and fantasy concepts with like-minded creatives, but she occasionally engages in self-portraiture, writing, costume and prop-making and painting. Inspired by ancient history and myth from various cultures, Yinsey loves incorporating storytelling and building characters in her work.

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