Rainbow Lakes
October 25, 2003
Opening Reception, Friday, October 24, 2003, 7 pm.
Coffee with Kai, Saturday, October 25, 10 to 11 a.m.
Join us for an open dialogue with the artist.
Workshop with Kai: $100, Saturday and Sunday, October 25 & 26, 10
to 4 Register for this two day workshop with Kai, starting right after "Coffee
with Kai". Explore the very essence of making with Bronfman Award winning
artist Kai Chan. Kai is known for producing extraordinary sculptural work from
humble materials. This workshop experience will broaden the vision of whatever
medium you work in.
Kai Chan: Born in China, Kai Chan immigrated to Canada in 1966.
With a degree in biology from Chung Chi College in 1963 Chan refocused his
direction and studied at the Ontario College of Art, graduating in 1970. He
became fascinated with incorporating fibre and natural material in his
delicately balanced sculptural forms. He has been featured in many solo and
group exhibitions nationally and internationally. Kai has been the recipient
of several grants, honoured with the Jean A. Chalmers National Crafts Award in
1998 and the Bronfmann Award in 2002.
Rainbow Lakes: This exhibition incorporates two distinct bodies of
work: wall hung constructs of found material and works made from strung
toothpicks. The threaded strands of found materials are draped and woven
around a pattern of nails hammered into the wall, creating a sea of marks that
shimmer with colour and movement. The artist labouriously paints the
toothpicks with acrylic or watercolour paint. The regular application for
colour creates a pixilated surface that suggests the electronic outline form
of pants, making reference to the artist’s origins in rural China and to a
contemporary gay identity.
The other major grouping of works in the exhibition consists of construction, built from found materials that hang on or protrude from the wall. The artist maintains a storehouse of bits and pieces of stuff that have fallen off or become dislodged from their original function, the detritus of everyday life. The predominant materials are stems and branches of plants from the artist’s garden.
The exhibition is accompanied by a bilingual catalogue with insightful
writings by both Stuart Reid of the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery and Robin
Metcalf of Museum London.
Information: Celeste Scopelites, Director/Curator
Art Gallery of Sudbury
251 John Street
Sudbury, ON P3E 1P9
Tel (705) 675-4871, extension 223
Fax (705) 674-3065
cscopelites@artsudbury.org
