Christina Marie Fong

While passing through our Arkansas St. studio you may notice a tall, elegant woman drawing large versions of dollar bills or building elaborately detailed paper sculptures of designer handbags; if she is joking with her teachers, using her own special nicknames for them, and occasionally stopping to pose like she’s on a fashion runway, then you have just met Christina Marie Fong (b. 1967).

Fong’s endearing, all-business demeanor has charmed the staff and her fellow artists since she joined the studio in 2011. Her drawing style is bold, graphic, and confident, as seen in her portraits of animals and in her “Big Money” drawings of US currency. The presidents sometimes wear stubbly beards and star-patterned shirts, and her fantastical cats may sport lipstick and lavish hairdos, Christina Marie Fong’s subjects are always given a stylish touch.  

Fong is a former child model, and fittingly, “celebrities, purses, and jewelry” influence her work. Her designer handbag sculptures are delicate and precise down to the specifics of zippers, tassels, and pattern. If you took only a quick glance at these pieces, you might mistakenly sling one over your shoulder and head out on a shopping spree. And Fong would gladly accompany you, and her advice would be priceless, because, like everything else about her, it would be honest.