“In the end, I think of my paintings not so much as landscapes, but as the idea of mortality and the persistence of life.” – Ed Wong-Ligda

In the imagined terrains of Ed Wong-Ligda’s artwork, memory, history, and geology converge. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences in the wilderness and informed by 18th and 19th-century Romantic American landscape traditions including the Hudson River School, Wong-Ligda constructs worlds that are at once fictitious and familiar. His paintings meditate on the forces that shape the earth—geological upheaval, ancient seas, shifting weather systems and, in doing so, reflect on the impermanence of the human condition.

Rather than portraying actual places, Wong-Ligda’s works evoke a deeper truth: that the present is shaped by layers of forgotten pasts and signals an inevitable future, which the artist referrers to as “misremembered experiences.” In this sense, his paintings transcend specific landscapes, serving instead as metaphors for mortality and the persistence of life.

With a background that spans illustration, design, and higher education, Wong-Ligda’s influence extends beyond the studio. His tenure at institutions such as Grand Valley State University and Kendall College of Art and Design, both located in Michigan, shaped a generation of artists, fostering a philosophy rooted in technical mastery and creative integrity.

Wong-Ligda’s work, included in both public and private collections nationwide, resonates with viewers as both visual poetry and quiet confrontation—a reminder of nature’s enduring cycles and our place within them.