We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christina Wong a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Christina, appreciate you joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?
Oh, all of the time! I spend half of my time explaining not just what an oddities artist is, but what oddities and curiosities are, and the other half explaining my cruelty-free methods. I don’t expect people to know what oddities and curiosities are and find myself discussing the realm of taxidermy, freak shows, and antiques. In almost every area of my life, I have received skepticism and disapproval. I have been warned plenty of times about revealing this side of me, for it would not only scare people away but also confuse them as to what I do full-time, which is UX research. Side eyes, back-handed comments, looks of disappointment, basically a ton of judgment, you name it. Oddities and curiosities naturally make people uncomfortable, and I get it; who makes art out of roadkill or even the half-eaten snake someone found while walking their dog? Still, once you meet the community and see the ethically-sourced art we make, you’ll realize you are surrounded by the kindest people with the most fascinating stories.
Now in my professional life as a mid-level UX researcher, I am very lucky to have found a company in the website design and digital advertising industry that understands how I spend my free time. Occasionally they’ll ask how my art is going, and I’ll respond with something like, ” Look at this deer and boar vertebrae necklace I made from roadkill!” or “look at my display for Tabernacle of Oddities!”. They are so supportive of it. From their kindness and willingness to understand, I learned if a group of people is not understanding of the art I immerse myself in, then it is not a group I want to be associated with. I have also realized that photos are my best friend. I can’t just go up to people and say, “I made snake vertebrae earrings out of a half-eaten snake my friend found while walking her dog!” without photos of the finished product or of people wearing them.
I think another thing I want to mention is because I specialize in crowns, people often shrug off my product. I have to swoop in and talk about the different occasions they could wear one of my crowns, such as at weddings, sweet 16s, costumes or cosplays, or for the queen or king in their life. I love the photos people send me of their wedding dresses or cosplays too! It feels nice to have contributed to their special event.
Christina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
During the day, I am a full-time, mid-level UX researcher. I have a nag for researching the user experience in the realm of transportation and am fortunate enough to have landed a role with DealerOn. But the moment I finish the day’s work, I switch gears into an oddities artist. My focus is on crowns and elegant headwear which naturally comes with all sorts of hair accessories such as loc jewelry and hair pins. I often make earrings as well, not just because they are more of an everyday wear, but because there is something so peaceful and fun about designing a pair of earrings out of bones, bugs, or crystals. I am very proud of how I differ from most crown designers with my odd and curious, animal-friendly niche. This all started with my first opportunity with Prometheus Esoterica in late 2018. They noticed I was always wearing my handmade crowns and gave me a chance to sell them in their store! They knew I needed a push, so they gave me a few of their cruelty-free bones to see what I could do with them. And that’s how I found my place in the oddities space. You can find my art in their shop, and I am preparing a large set for their yearly Halloween Open House!
My first health scare, brain surgery in 2017, got me into this craft. I had gelastic epilepsy, and the fear, anxiety, and pain made me ponder how I wanted to spend the rest of my physical time here on earth. I tried a few different disciplines, such as painting and digital art, but I was not passionate and evidently sucked. One day, as I was cleaning up my art area, I found a bag of stunning crystals. I could not remember where I sourced them from but experimented a few creations with them. Yes, the jewelry I made at first was cute, but I felt these crystals needed to be represented more elegantly. And the next thing I knew, I found myself making crowns. To this day, many thoughts keep me up at night, such as what if the brain surgery did not go as planned? Or, what if people were not so supportive of me, would I have given up? What if I never found that bag of crystals? I get to say that my art is good enough to be accepted into museums. I won People’s Choice from the Orlando Museum of Art’s 2021 Spooky Party, for example, and I am very proud of that title. I love collaborating with photographers such as The Tattooed Bride and Marisa Cartier Photography and am incredibly thrilled that I get to sell my crowns at Prometheus Esoterica’s shop in Winter Park. I just wrapped up at Dysfunctional Grace’s 2022 Tabernacle of Oddities. I was selected to be one of their fifty purveyors of the odd and curious, and I had a blast! Next up for me is the Arlias Halloween & Oddities Market on October 1st!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I have a space to call my own. My apartment dining room is my studio space, and I get to create as my rabbit hops around me. That’s where I feel the world around me does not exist, and it’s just me and my art. Now with my super specific niche, my work is recognized. I’ll be checking out at a store, and the cashier will say, “I know you.” These parents once asked me to speak to their daughter about how I found something so strange and turned it into something elegantly beautiful. I get invited to work with fashion designers, photographers, and rare events.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
The moment I tell people I am an artist, I am met with the suggestion to marry rich or to fall back on a stable job, which I find very demeaning. With reactions like this, I don’t even bother mentioning my Master of Arts from SCAD and certification from Harvard University. This is why I encourage people in my space to use photos as visual aids on their phones.
I am very fortunate to have an understanding family. They always knew I was strange because I would crawl backward and do things opposite from others, but you know what they did? They always provided a creative outlet for me. They were patient with the weird activities I randomly did. I have this aunt, a senior project manager in radioactive waste management. Every time I saw her, she had an art project for me, introducing me to the arts. She was a big part of my artist journey, as far back as when she helped me with my fourth-grade science fair project display.
I can get into my brain surgery a bit more if you like. I can’t believe it took something that extreme for me to start my small business. I remember just laying in that hospital bed, wanting to get out of there and make art. What I want people to take from this is don’t wait; things happen when you least expect it, so get inspired and create!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.theroyalrealm.com
- Instagram: the.royalrealm
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinartistry/
Image Credits
Marisa Cartier Photography