Group exhibition
PLASTICITY
111 Minna Gallery San Francisco, CA
Presented by Kaleidoscope SF
View exhibitionSelena Yang: San Francisco painter exploring molecular plant cell biology
About the artist
Selena Yang paints living systems at the scale of landscapes.
Practice
Selena Yang is a San Francisco-based painter whose surreal landscapes translate molecular plant cell biology into imagined terrain. Her practice centers on Organic Utopia: a world where biological intelligence, scientific discovery, and human connection are inseparable. The paintings ask a recurring perceptual question: at what scale are we looking, and does it matter?
Research
Raised by research scientists, Yang learned to move between evidence and imagination. Her father, plant cell molecular biologist Zhenbiao Yang, is an ongoing collaborator. Their conversations about membranes, organelles, cell walls, signaling, and growth become the conceptual scaffolding for paintings in which cellular systems feel architectural, social, and planetary.
Method
Most works begin while someone is teaching Yang something. She speaks with scientists, engineers, designers, founders, friends, and families; then connects their knowledge through symbols and metaphors. A rough thumbnail and limited palette establish the structure, but the painting remains open to happy accidents. She returns semi-completed works to participants and refines them against the meanings they see.
Context
Yang's projects connect art to research, conservation, technology, and public storytelling. They include a biodiversity product with Google DeepMind; design for the Shenzhen Institute of Emerging Agricultural Technology; a video documentary series with Ming Rui Art Museum; and a touring conservation exhibition organized by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation.
- Based
- San Francisco and Shenzhen
- Education
- BFA, Rhode Island School of Design; Brown University coursework
- Exhibitions
- 111 Minna Gallery; UNESCO Headquarters
- Documented collections
- Beigan Primary School; Mark Estelle; Zhenbiao Yang
- Design career
- Product Designer at Google; previously Netflix, Sonos, and Johnson & Johnson
Artwork records
Each work is catalogued with its title, year, medium, dimensions, ownership history, exhibition history, and available commission, gift, sale, and supporting documentation. Provenance records and high-resolution views are available for formal review.
Viewing room
Explore in 3D
Exhibitions
Touring exhibition
International Coral Reef Initiative
UNESCO Headquarters Paris, France
Touring exhibition organized by the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
Education
BFA, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)
Cross-registered at Brown University in Cognitive Science and Computer Science
Press
Ming Rui Art Museum
About Selena
View on Instagram ↗
Ming Rui Art Museum
Between light and shadow, art weaves into daily life
View on Instagram ↗
Writing
Studio notes on painting, plant cell biology, scale, and the places that enter the work.
Painting the Code of Life
How molecular plant cell biology became the visual language of my surreal landscapes.
At What Scale Are We Looking?
Why a cell can become a landscape, and a landscape can behave like a cell.
Listening to San Francisco
How overheard conversations at Ocean Beach, the Embarcadero, and the Mission become painted worlds.
Collaborations
Partnering with academia, non-profits, and corporations to make the Organic Utopia tangible.
Product collaboration
Google DeepMind
A multi-modal biodiversity app to crowdsource environmental change.
Video documentary series
Ming Rui Art Museum 明瑞艺术馆
A video documentary series offering an inside look into my creative process, studio space, and personal life.
Environmental and brand design
Shenzhen Institute of Emerging Agricultural Technology
Greenhouse design vision and logo design.
Conservation identity
Diamond-backed Terrapins Private Rehabilitation & Conservation Sanctuary
Logo and illustration system for a private rehabilitation and conservation sanctuary.
Touring exhibition
Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation
Science-based ocean conservation, founded by HRH Prince Khaled bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.
We invite a mind wander into the code of life