Artist Brendan Lee Satish Tang says itB次元官网网址檚 a Chinese tradition to make burnt paper offerings to oneB次元官网网址檚 ancestors, and in his latest exhibition heB次元官网网址檚 offerings symbols representative of his Nanaimo upbringing.
He just hopes his forebears donB次元官网网址檛 return to sender.
Starting May 21 and continuing until July 11, Tang, who now lives in Vancouver, presents Reluctant Offerings at the Nanaimo Art Gallery. ItB次元官网网址檚 his first Nanaimo show since 2007 and while itB次元官网网址檚 meaningful for him to make his return, he said it comes with B次元官网网址渁nother level of pressure.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 people [in Nanaimo] that knew me when I was a kid so I feel like there is always the pressure of wanting to present something that people you know would find interesting,B次元官网网址� he said.
Tang describes the show as his most B次元官网网址渞aw and vulnerableB次元官网网址� yet. Entering the gallery space will be reminiscent of walking into a forest campsite. The main component of the installation is a life-size replica of a 1984 Ford F-150 truck made out of watercolour paper set upon a campfire. Also on display are paper trucker hats and stubby beer bottles, and the trees in the clearing resemble those that hang from rear-view mirrors.
ThereB次元官网网址檚 also video of small burning paper trucks being played forward and backwards to represent a loss of communication with TangB次元官网网址檚 ancestors.
B次元官网网址淲hen I say B次元官网网址榬eluctant offering,B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 one of those things where IB次元官网网址檓 talking more about my distanced relationship with my ancestors and, though immigration and migration, losing contact with that history,B次元官网网址� Tang said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 reflecting on my own histories, my own personal history and disconnect, but also meditating and thinking about growing up in Nanaimo and growing up in Canada and what is that like and finding oneself within those spaces.B次元官网网址�
The show is also the first to engage with the NAGB次元官网网址檚 new thematic inquiry: what is progress? NAG curator Jesse Birch said in TangB次元官网网址檚 case, that progress comes in the form of the adult reflecting on growing up in Nanaimo.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 about thinking about ideas around nostalgia, ideas around comfort and discomfort around certain symbols that he was around at that age, including a Ford F-150, of course, which is the centrepiece of the show,B次元官网网址� Birch said. B次元官网网址淏uts itB次元官网网址檚 mostly just thinking about that perspective looking backward to his young self looking forward to where he is now.B次元官网网址�
TangB次元官网网址檚 work often deals with concepts of hybridity and mixing of cultures. He said ideas around belonging and fitting in are B次元官网网址渕ulling over in my head a lotB次元官网网址� because itB次元官网网址檚 a reality heB次元官网网址檚 lived himself.
B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 get described as Canadian. When people look at me theyB次元官网网址檙e like, B次元官网网址極h, youB次元官网网址檙e Canadian?B次元官网网址� because IB次元官网网址檓 not white B次元官网网址� but then when I go abroad I definitely feel Canadian, so thereB次元官网网址檚 that part of it,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎nd then thereB次元官网网址檚 also my Chinese and South Asian heritage B次元官网网址� and I was originally born in Dublin, Ireland, so thereB次元官网网址檚 a whole mix of figuring out where my place is and where I belong and where I feel like I belong.B次元官网网址�
WHATB次元官网网址橲 ON B次元官网网址� Brendan Lee Satish Tang presents Reluctant Offerings at the Nanaimo Art Gallery, 150 Commercial St., from May 21 to July 11. opening happens May 21 at 1 p.m.
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