Calvin Wong,
Thinking Ahead, Throwing It All Away

June 26 - July 31, 2026

One Grand Gallery is excited to welcome back Calvin Wong for his first solo exhibition with the gallery. Thinking Ahead, Throwing It All Away explores the tension between the planned vessel and the emergent figure by taking meticulously thrown forms and dismantling their original purpose. Utilizing a mix of wheel thrown foundations and intuitive handbuilding, these combined figures and large scale sculptural heads serve as a record of a shifting mind. Wong is aiming to capture a spectrum of human experience that ranges from quiet joy to a profound, lingering vulnerability.

Wong’s figures often radiate a sense of profound vulnerability, capturing a spectrum of human experience that ranges from quiet joy to deep seated anxiety. His aesthetic celebrates a "crude" imperfection, a deliberate roughness of surface and form that makes each piece feel both approachable and fragile. By creating objects that demand a sense of protection, Wong invites the viewer to move beyond observation and into an intimate, emotional relationship with the work. These pieces serve as tactile reminders of the delicate balance between the memories we carry and the people we become.

This show will span the main gallery at 1000 E Burnside and will also extend into the auxiliary exhibition space above.


Calvin Wong is a Portland based artist whose work explores the tension between juvenile innocence and the complexities of the adult psyche. After years of working in the rigid, calculated disciplines of lithography, etching, and painting, Wong pivoted to ceramics to embrace a more fluid, intuitive process. This transition allowed for a departure from representational detail, moving instead toward sculptural forms rooted entirely in the subconscious and the imagination.



@wongweiceramics
wongweiceramics.com

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