Ke Coco Deng is a dual environmental studies and art major at Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Massachusetts, USA. She was born and raised in Shenzhen, China, where she developed a fascination with nature and the outdoors through birdwatching in the mangrove wetlands. Nature is central to both her academic and artistic work. One of her primary interests is the way human anxieties interact with and are connected with nature. These connections can be direct, such as the ever more pressing anxieties about the effects of climate change and consumerism. Natural elements also serve as metaphorical representations of anxieties in my work. Her main artistic goal currently is to develop her voice through exploration and experimentation with different concepts and mediums. In the past, she has worked primarily in watercolor or gouache with color pencil, although she has been increasingly drawn to digital painting and its infinite possibilities for manipulation. 

Deng interned for Bernay Fine Art gallery in Great Barrington, MA, USA in 2022. She is currently co-president of the Art Club at her college and is also working as a lab assistant in BCSR’s greenhouse and herbarium. She has previously been published in the Spring 2022 issue of OSUN Global Commons.