“Wear poetry as both perfume and armor.” In Turning to Wallpaper, lush, elegant language contrasts with the disturbing and at times gruesome imagery to create a collection that knows exactly how to haunt the reader. Wongís words and artistry are vibrant with color, richly textured, defiant, and unapologetic in their boldness. Her speaker undertakes a spiritual journey of remembrance that transcends body, tradition, and even nation in the pursuit of authentic artóart that is constructed using radical acceptance of the past as a means to leave it all behind. This is a story where no wounds are softened or left unconfronted. Unconcerned with conventional beauty, it is undeniably beautiful.
