{"id":196356,"date":"2026-04-29T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/?p=196356"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:23:43","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:23:43","slug":"food-nostalgia-and-connection-in-mercedes-nokyi-ngs-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/arts\/art\/interviews-features\/food-nostalgia-and-connection-in-mercedes-nokyi-ngs-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Food, Nostalgia and Connection in Mercedes Nokyi Ng\u2019s Art"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mercedes
Mercedes Nokyi Ng works in oil paint because its long drying time allows her to slow down. Photo: Brent Landes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When you hear the word food, what do you usually think of? Do you think of community gatherings with overflowing containers of shareable cuisines? Or maybe you think of five-star restaurants with shouting chefs, bustling tables and food straight out of a magazine? Or maybe, just maybe, you think of a meal that feels like home with every bite.<\/p>\n

For Hong-Kong- and Utah-based artist Mercedes Nokyi Ng<\/a>, food is all of these factors captured in her oil-painted canvases. Her art features paintings of food, her home in Hong Kong and \u201cthe randomness of life,\u201d as stated on her website. She works primarily in oil paint because she fell in love with it in college due to its \u201cversatility and forgiveness. It takes a while to dry, and it makes me slow down a bit,\u201d Nokyi states.<\/p>\n

When asked how food inspires her art, Nokyi responds, \u201cI love the presentation of food and how it makes people want to eat it. Personally, I\u2019ve always loved the idea of food, but have I always had a healthy relationship with food? No. I love the idea and presentation of food, but eating it was hard. Now, I\u2019m at a much better place where I can look at food and also consume it as something that\u2019s joyful. That aspect of food makes me want to paint it as a way to celebrate life and a celebration<\/span> of being a human being.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Mercedes
Mercedes Nokyi Ng’s art features snapshots of daily life: markets, food, and streets. Photo: Brent Landes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“I believe things happen for a reason that connects me to other people.”<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Her art also features so many of these wonderfully random snapshots of life, such as grocery shopping at local markets, fish, traffic in the city, etc. Nokyi is drawn to these seemingly random moments because, \u201cAs a person of color, sometimes I may have a hard time fitting in and finding my place here, but just being observant in my daily life has helped me to find a sense of joy. And I also say these things are random, but I believe things happen for a reason that connects me to other people. They\u2019re also precious moments that I want to immortalize on my canvas.\u201d Especially since moving to Utah, and having to assimilate to the culture here, she\u2019s found herself observing these quiet moments where she can feel like she belongs.<\/p>\n

\"Painting
Mercedes Nokyi Ng captures food in oil paint. Photo: Brent Landes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As a Hong Kong-based artist, Nokyi draws inspiration from the sights and sounds of Hong Kong. \u201cHong Kong is part of my identity, and I feel like art is a way to show how I feel and what makes you you. It makes up a huge part of who I am and how I think. I feel like my art connects me to people with similar backgrounds so that I don\u2019t feel so alone or have to explain where I\u2019m from. Having pictures makes it so much easier to visualize where I grew up and how fascinating it is to see where other immigrants grew up and their home, not just Hong Kong. Art is a powerful thing to me,\u201d Nokyi states.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Hong Kong is part of my identity, and I feel like art is a way to show how I feel and what makes you you.”<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The majority of Nokyi\u2019s paintings carry a sense of nostalgia because she doesn\u2019t usually get the chance to travel home often. So, in order to feel connected to her home, she paints scenes and memories from her childhood there. \u201cI want to preserve my history and my roots. For me, I\u2019ve tried to recollect my identity after being away from Hong Kong for so long. I don\u2019t want to lose myself, and art gives me the chance to have both identities at the same time,\u201d Nokyi says.<\/p>\n

Nokyi is currently being featured in a group exhibition at the Fice Gallery<\/a><\/em> titled \u201cI Must Be Dreaming\u201d and has an individual exhibit coming up in the basement of the Anderson-Foothill Branch of the library. Stop by and see her art that encapsulates the beauty of food, nostalgia and the mundane qualities of life.<\/p>\n

Read more about inspiring local artists:
\nCommunal Grief and Joy In Trying Times: Molly Heller’s Story of Curation<\/em><\/a>
\nSLUG Style: Veronica Clark<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

To help SLUG continue to support local artists, consider joining our community of donors!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hong-Kong- and Utah-based artist Mercedes Nokyi Ng’s art features paintings of food, her home in Hong Kong and \u201cthe randomness of life.” … read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":196401,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[],"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12430,12429,376],"tags":[12028,12505,17792,32372],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196356"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.slugmag.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}