Selena Yang | San Francisco Painter

Paintings by Selena Yang

Auxin Growth Factor (2026): Oil on canvas, 24 × 18 in
Neuron Tree (2019): Acrylic on canvas, 72 × 48 in
CRISPR Duckweed (2024): Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 48 in
The Last Coral Reef (2019): Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 24 in
Organic Matter (2019): Charcoal on paper, 32 × 24 in
Baking a Cake on the Beach (2025): Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 24 in
Mission in the Mission (2025): Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 24 in
Ant on a Tree (2025): Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 48 in
Bouncy Waters (2024): Acrylic on canvas, 36 × 48 in

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.

Selena Yang; San Francisco and Shenzhen

Based: San Francisco and Shenzhen
Education: BFA, Rhode Island School of Design; Brown University coursework
Exhibitions: PLASTICITY; 111 Minna Gallery Science Without Borders Challenge; 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.