Wong Hoy Cheong was born in Georgetown, Penang. He studied literature, education and fine arts at Brandeis University, Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) in the USA. His work is inter-disciplinary, involving areas such as drawing, installation, video/photography and theatre/performance.

Working in a wide range of media, Hoy Cheong addresses concerns and ideas about identity, location, globalization, and colonialism, using popular genre conventions, as well as the allure of unusual materials. He has always sought to disturb our sense of security, reminding us of the slippery surface that lies between fact and fiction, past and present, and the perpetual reinvention of our own histories.

He is currently Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University Singapore.