Sami Tsang is a Toronto based ceramic artist whose work explores domestic encounters and private narratives borne out of the flux amidst two cultures – Chinese and Western. Sami studied traditional Chinese painting for 7 years in Hong Kong, which had a profound effect on her pursuing an arts career.
Sami earned her BA Craft & Design from Sheridan College (2019) and her MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University, NY (2021). Sami has presented solo, group exhibitions and art fair in the United States and Canada, including Sculpture Space, NYC, the Gardiner Museum, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, ON and Toronto Art Fair. Tsang’s work is included in private collections and Collection Majudia. Sami was accepted as an Artist-in-Residence (Ceramics) at Harbourfront Centre in 2022.
~ Artist Statement ~
Growing up as the youngest child of a conservative Hong Kong family, my voice was not welcomed. The ability to speak soon faded away. I moved back to Canada at age 12, where the constant flux amidst Chinese and Western cultures created a series of traumatic issues. At 20, I began to resist my traditional role.
Every day, I process my progress.
I gather stories of domestic encounters and private narratives. I find relationships between these stories and the materials I use in my practice, such as clay, resin, rice paper and ball point pen. Is clay actually the old grump? Does making humorous sculpture help me to strip down guilt? Can using ball point pen bring back innocence? Chinese culture forbids speaking of family shame. My ultimate goal is to face head-on this heavy-hearted matter. When my heart allows, I convert these stories through the work of cartoonist-like gesture into bearable, yet straightforward imagery to reveal the raw emotional experiences we share. Over time, I hope the sweet anticipation for mooncake parties will become fruitful.
