Will & Caro

Carolyn Wong

Carolyn was born in Carlton, Melbourne in 1986.
Her childhood was spent in the South Eastern suburbs of Melbourne where it consisted mostly of carefree playing with the neighborhood children. Her father was in the fashion and tailoring industry and later became a successful restaurateur in Chinatown.

Carolyn was heavily influenced into the arts and the different eastern cultures from an early age and began drawing creatively since she was very young.
From an early age Carolyn was encouraged to develop her artistic talents, in Primary school she was placed in charge of the creative aspect in the end of year school production where she painted all the onset props and was awarded numerous certificates for her artistic talent.
Academically she chased after what seemed to be a more stable career in science and mathematics. However would always find time for the occasional amateur painting or drawing. In 2002 Carolyn entered the regional painting competition and won an honorable mention, despite receiving no lessons in art.

She was always intrigued by the subtlety and Zen in Japanese art and learnt the paper folding techniques from an early age. Whilst still in high school Carolyn studied Japanese at RMIT and completed level one proficiency.

Carolyn was awarded a place on the VCE honor roll and studied a Bachelor of Oral Health (Dual Stream) at the University of Melbourne, whilst managing her family business in the heart of Melbourne. At this time Carolyn was also working as a skincare and makeup artist for Shiseido, a leading Japanese company with one of the longest histories in the industry. It wasn’t long before Carolyn’s artistic talents emerged once more and lured her to embark on a journey of her own.

It was back at Carlton (Art Melbourne 2010), Carolyn’s birthplace that Short Story paper butterflies was launched, and inherently the new Will & Caro gallery range would arise.




William Du

William was born in Helsinki, Finland 1985. He’s family had escaped from the Vietnam war and sought refuge at the Malaysian concentration camps, where they were later offered residency in Finland, the birthplace for William. Another year onwards, the family again migrated to Australia in hopes of commencing a new beginning.

William’s farther was a very poor farmer and the family was very much involved in the teachings of an attitude for appreciation in life. He also came from a family extremely gifted in artistic talents, and with seven brothers and sisters to learn from it wasn’t long before he started experimenting in his own inner artist.

Much of William’s childhood was spent indoors drawing alongside his brother’s who were recognized artists locally. It was only natural that William choose to pursue an artistic career and studied Product design at RMIT, whilst also working as a freelance artist and designer on the side. William also ventured through various employments including world vision and working in Singapore as an attachment for Melbourne as a sales manager for OSIM. The latter influencing William’s “give it a try” attitude.

William is known as a positive and entrepreneurial individual and also in his shameless yet humorous ways. In 2009, he decided to turn his inability to conform as a worker into a business where he can express his own creative perception. He studied Small business management as a pathway to create something from nothing.


Will & Caro

William and Carolyn are characters who are worlds apart from each other; however whose stories intertwined in business also when they launched their Short Story paper butterfly range in December 2009. William’s “give it a try” attitude coupled with Carolyn’s prompt nature to “make things happen” piloted Short Story into the Arts and Gallery industry where it was discovered by the likes of prominent art collectors and dealers alike. One of the few to mention being Rebecca Hossack and her Galleries in London and the likes of the Gandel group.