I am a Canadian-born Chinese and was raised in Hong Kong. The most impactful experience I had there was studying traditional Chinese painting for 7 years. At age 12, I returned to Canada to pursue my passion for art.
From a young age, expressing myself through art has always felt essential. I decided to move from Hong Kong to Canada for the specialized art program at H. B. Beal Secondary School. Beal introduced me to a wider range of visual arts, including painting and ceramics. In 2015, I continued to study Ceramic Art at Sheridan College. At Sheridan, I was introduced to the clay community, and I was given lots of guidance from my professors and peers for the next steps in my career. Currently, I am in my final year of the Master of Fine Art - Ceramic Art at Alfred University in New York State.
~ Artist Statement ~
Growing up as the youngest child of a conservative Hong Kong family, my voice was not welcomed. The ability to speak faded away. At 12, I moved back to Canada, where a series of traumatic issues were created by the constant flux amidst two cultures - Chinese and Western. At 20, I began to resist my traditional role.
Every day, I process my progress.
I gather stories of domestic encounters and private narratives. Simultaneously, I find relationships between these stories and the materials I use in my practice, such as resin, rice paper and ball point pen. I ask: Is clay actually the old grump? Does making a humorous sculpture help me to strip down guilt? Can using ball point pen bring back innocence?
In Chinese culture, it is forbidden to speak of family shame. My ultimate goal is to face head-on the heavy hearted matter. When the heart allows, I convert these stories through the work of cartoonistic gesture into bearable, yet straightforward imagery to reveal the raw emotional experiences we share. Overtime, I hope the sweet anticipation for mooncake parties will become fruitful.
