Natalie Wong Makes ‘Neon Rap Portraits’ Of HipHop Icons

by Sugar Cayne January 8, 2018, 5:38 pm

Hong Kong-based multimedia artist Natalie Wong made a series of 12 neon “rap portraits” that feature some of HipHop‘s most iconic artist. The portraits are made from electroluminescent wire on fluorescent acrylic. Natalie got her inspiration by the contour drawings of Egon Schiele and Picasso for these pieces. She used a traditional continuous line drawing technique and re-imagined self-portraiture into neon, paying homage to Hong Kong’s neon sign heritage. in the video below Natalie talks about how the art of freestyle rapping (off the top of the dome) inspired her to use the continuous line drawing technique.

The HipHop artist featured in the portraits are Tupac Shakur, Nas, JAY-Z, Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliott, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Pharrell, Kanye West, Drake, The Notorious B.I.G.(but it looks more like Diddy with a kangol than Biggie) and Nicki Minaj. Pretty dope!!