A Victoria artistB次元官网网址檚 large-scale paintings will immerse gallery goers into the everyday experiences of a Vietnamese-Canadian family finding its footing in a new country.
Based on her childhood as the daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Chrystal PhanB次元官网网址檚 six-part series, Once for a While, is intended to feel both foreign and familiar.
In one painting, an upset young girl can be seen arms crossed at the end of a crowded dinner table. Seated next to an ancestral altar teeming with food, Phan still remembers being confused why she wasnB次元官网网址檛 allowed to eat it.
B次元官网网址淪heB次元官网网址檚 in the back, no one is noticing her and sheB次元官网网址檚 having a traumatic moment. And if she were to tell the adults, they would probably just laugh at her,B次元官网网址� Phan said. B次元官网网址淚 know everybody has had that kind of experience, no matter what your background is.B次元官网网址�
In other paintings, a mother turns her first ever Christmas turkey into a curry, having never seen that kind of bird before, and a family takes a deep fat fryer on a camping trip.
The feelings behind them are universal and the experiences themselves are somewhat mundane, but the people living them and the artist telling them are different. PhanB次元官网网址檚 paintings promise to expand viewersB次元官网网址� understanding of what it means to be Canadian.
B次元官网网址淚 hope they show an experience that gives you a view into a different life,B次元官网网址� she said.
READ ALSO:
Growing up, Phan always felt uncomfortable in art galleries.
B次元官网网址淭his is due in part to the underrepresentation of subjects I could relate to. From my experience, collections exhibited in Victoria rarely depicted Asian figures; when they were, they were characterized as exotic or magical,B次元官网网址� Phan wrote on her website.
The feeling continued into adulthood. Phan remembers attending a Royal B.C. Museum exhibit in 2017, which explored what family means to different communities in B.C., and seeing no Vietnamese representation. In 2018, she read a local magazine article about food vendors in VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Chinatown, where 11 of those featured were white and only one was Asian.
Once for a While is PhanB次元官网网址檚 response to the under- and misrepresentation of people from diverse backgrounds in mainstream culture. It is her way of carving out space for voices and experiences like her own to be seen and valued. ItB次元官网网址檚 also PhanB次元官网网址檚 way of building understanding and shared experiences between different communities and cultures.
B次元官网网址淚 think in order to move past some challenges, we kind of have to focus on the things that connect us, rather than things that keep us separate,B次元官网网址� she said.
Her work is on display at the Chapel Gallery in St. Matthias Anglican Church, 600 Richmond Ave., from Jan. 21 to Feb. 6, with an artist talk set for opening night at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets for the talk can be found at .
READ ALSO:
Do you have a story tip? Email: jane.skrypnek@blackpress.ca.
Follow us on and and like us on
