Yu-Chun “Pony” Ma grew up drawing manga in Taipei City, Taiwan, before moving to New York City at age 24. After doodling through English lessons, he received his first formal art instruction at the Fashion Institute of Technology. There, Pony discovered acrylics and, with the mentorship of Greg “Craola” Simkins, fell in love with pop surrealism. Using the iconography of pop culture and the surreal visual vocabulary of dreams, Pony’s work evokes the uncanny images concocted by our subconscious minds. Each painting is a riddle, and each person’s experiences and memories interact with the symbols in Pony’s work to conjure a meaning as unique as each viewer. The mystery is the point: each painting is a mirror, inviting the viewer to recognize the inner workings of their minds which Pony has laid out on the canvas. Like the dreams and childhood memories that inspire them, Pony’s paintings are sometimes humorous, sometimes dark, always just beyond the reach of explanation.

Learn more: www.ponymaart.com