Intricately Woven
Art by Xiangmei Su
Opening Reception: Wednesday October 11th 7 – 9pm
Culture Days Hands-on Workshop: Saturday October 14th 2 – 4pm
https://suworkshop.eventbrite.ca
Artist Talk: Wednesday October 18th 7 – 9pm
Exhibition: October 12th – November 4th Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 6pm
Artist Xiangmei Su (苏向) lives in an era where the natural climate is changing drastically, the economic direction is accelerating, and human productivity is making great strides. New energy, new materials, 5G communications, artificial intelligence, etc. are taking mankind into wider unknown areas. As the other wing of human society, art will inevitably develop and evolve with the pace of science, technology and economy.
From witnessing her grandmother using wooden looms to make traditional textiles, to observing the mechanical assembly line in her father’s factory, to creating her own contemporary art and becoming a full-time artist, Su uses her talent, wisdom, and personal immigration experience to create unique works of art. She passed through Suzhou, a famous cultural town in China, roaring contemporary industrial cities, and arrived in Canada, where the cultures are intertwined. Painting, installation, and fibre material art have transformed into new extensions and connotations in her hands.
The lines in the Intricately Woven Series of paintings are clear in latitude and longitude, sparse and orderly, exquisite, three-dimensional, and unpredictable. They bring our sight into the profound spatial dimension and inspire us to explore the essence through phenomena. The maze-like “factories,” “workshops,” “parts” and “units,” and other contemporary industrial images she depicts with single-toned lines make us stand in awe of the great wisdom and productivity of mankind, and at the same time make us realize human insignificance. We have conquered matter and improved efficiency, so where will technology take us?
In her installation works, she uses canvas as a two-dimensional medium and uses pins and threads to carefully weave three-dimensional works on the surface of the canvas. This series of works are neither textiles nor paintings, but installations that utilize fibre materials, light, colour and space. Through the artist’s special perspective, social productivity transforms material into brand new things in a specific environment.
Su’s latest installation “Interweaving (交织)” will also be exhibited this time. She used ancient techniques, traditional tools, and her usual symbol of material culture – thread, and used her mother’s dowry suitcase as a “prism” to “refract” onto the wall the maps of Suzhou and Vancouver, the two cities where she had lived. The complex trajectory of fate and journey are visualized to tell the story of the destiny and journey of life.
The Chinese sage Wang Yangming’s “investigating things to gain knowledge (格物致知)” is about obtaining true knowledge through exhaustive investigation of things. Su’s artistic practice, artistic works, and artistic style well reflect this cognitive proposition. She gained new knowledge from the “investigation” of traditional crafts, regional culture, and creative media, and maintained and managed her relationship with history, tradition, humanity, and nature, and then used new artistic techniques and forms to interpret new world and era.
Intricately Woven: Art by Xiangmei Su will open at Lipont Gallery, 4211 No. 3 Road, Richmond BC from 7:00pm to 9:00 pm on Wednesday October 11, 2023. The exhibition remains on view until November 4th. The gallery opens from Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. Admission is free.
On Saturday, October 14th, from 2:00pm to 4:00 pm, Su will lead the audience in a hands-on workshop during the Culture Days (https://culturedays.ca/), using canvas, pins, thread, and other materials to create installation works. The workshop is free and open to people of 12 years old and above. Please register at https://suworkshop.eventbrite.ca.
On the evening of Wednesday, October 18th, from 7:00pm to 9:00pm, Su will introduce her creative process and works to the audience in detail. The talk is free and open to public. Please register at https://sutalk.eventbrite.ca.
千丝万缕 – 苏向艺术展
开幕：2023年10月11日星期三19:00 – 21:00
艺术手工坊：2023年10月14日星期六14:00 – 16:00
https://suworkshop.eventbrite.ca
艺术家讲座：2023年10月18日星期三19:00 – 21:00
展览：2023年10月12日至11月4日，周二至周六11:00 – 18:00免费开放
艺术家苏向所处的时代是自然气候急剧变化，经济方向加速转变，人类生产力大步飞跃的时代。新能源，新材料，5G通讯，人工智能等等把人类带往更广阔的未知领域。艺术作为人类社会的另一侧翅翼，必定会伴随着科技与经济的步履发展和演进。
苏向从目睹祖母使用木制织布机制作传统纺织品，到父亲工厂里的机械流水线，到自己进行当代艺术创作并成为全职艺术家，她用才华、智慧、以及个人移民经历创作出独树一帜的艺术作品。她穿过了中国的文化名城苏州，轰鸣的当代工业城市，抵达了各族裔文化交织荟萃的加拿大。绘画、装置和纤维材料艺术在她手中幻化出新的外延和内涵。
【千丝万缕】系列绘画作品中的线条经纬分明、疏朗有致、精致立体，变化莫测。它们把我们的视线带入深邃的空间维度，激发我们透过现象而探究本质的悸动。她用单一色调线条描绘出来的迷宫一样的“工厂”“车间”“零件”“机组”等当代工业的意象，让我们不禁对人类的伟大智慧和生产力肃然起敬，同时也让我们倏然意识到人类的渺小。我们征服了物质，提高了效率，那么技术将会把我们带往何方？
在装置作品中，她以画布为二维介质、用大头针和线在画布表面悉心地编制出三维立体的装置作品。这一系列作品既不是纺织品，也不是绘画，而是利用纤维材料、光、颜色和空间的装置作品。社会生产力通过艺术家特殊的视角，在特定环境中、将物质材料变造为崭新的事物。
本次还将展出苏向最新装置作品【交织】。她沿用古老的技术，传统的工具，和她惯用的物质文化符号——线，以母亲的嫁妆皮箱为“棱镜”，把自己生活过的两座城市苏州和温哥华的地图“折射”到墙面上。繁复的命运轨迹和旅途轨迹瞬间被视觉化，以宣叙人生之旅的故事。
华夏先贤王阳明的“格物致知”，是讲在穷究事理中获得真知。苏向的艺术实践、艺术作品、艺术风格很好地体现了这一认知命题。她在对传统工艺、地域文化、创作媒材的“格物”中获得新知，并保持、管理着自己与历史、与传统、与人文、与自然的关系，而后运用崭新的艺术手法和形式诠释崭新的世界和时代。
【千丝万缕 – 苏向艺术展】将于2023年10月11日星期三晚19:00 – 21:00时在温哥华力邦美术馆开幕。展览至11月4日结束。周二至周六11:00 至18:00免费开放。
10月14日星期六14:00 – 16:00时, 苏向将于 “加拿大文化日 (Culture Days)” 期间带领观众进行艺术手工创作，用画布，大头针，线等材料创作装置作品。免费对12岁以上人士开放，敬请注册 https://suworkshop.eventbrite.ca
10月18日星期三晚19:00 – 21:00时，苏向将以讲座的形式为观众详解她的创作历程和作品。免费开放，座位有限，敬请预订 https://sutalk.eventbrite.ca
Xiangmei Su – Artist Biography
Xiangmei Su is a multimedia artist from China who now lives in Canada. She received her B.A. in Visual Art at University of British Columbia. She works with installation, painting, photography, and video. Su has exhibited several solo and group shows in both China and Canada. Her first solo show The Wind was exhibited in Changshu Art Museum in China in 2012. Su was an artist-in-residence at Dr. Sun Yet- Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver from January 28th to June 30th, 2022 and her solo show Intangible Thread – Part Two was presented at the Garden. She has published two catalogues. In 2020, she was invited for a TED Talk, Becoming Who I Am. In 2022, she was invited to be an Exhibition Advisor for West Vancouver Community Art’s Council’s Jury for Exhibitions at the Kay Meek Art Centre.
Her art practices deal with the relations between spaces (cultural, natural, social and individual) and her own cultural identity. The subject of immigration is the one that holds personal meaning for her. Like other immigrants, from her hometown, Changshu, China to Vancouver, Canada, she has been crossing borders and cultures, struggling with the formation of a transnational identity and re-identifying herself as Chinese-Canadian. As a new immigrant in Canada, she experienced both peace and conflict. On one hand, she needed to learn and understand the newness in order to fit into her host country. On the other hand, she always feels the primordial pull of her origin. Notions of identity and belonging are consistently in flux and are always being renegotiated by the individual. After struggling between these two cultures for years, she realized that it was impossible and unreasonable for her to actually have a single cultural identity. She started to ask herself what it would be like to live ‘in-between’ spaces, cultures and countries. She eventually shifted to a different investigation of her cultural identity within a new space. She found herself transforming as space and time interweaved to produce complex configurations of individuality and identity, past and present, inside and outside, inclusion and exclusion. These notions combine and overlap to form her new transcultural identities.
苏向 – 艺术家简介
苏向是一位来自中国的多媒介艺术家,现居加拿大。她在加拿大温哥华卑诗大学(UBC) 获得视觉艺术学士学位。她从事装置、绘画、摄影和视频方面的创作。苏曾在中国和加拿大举办过多次个展和群展。2012年她的第一个个展【风】在中国常熟美术馆展出。苏于2022年1月28日至6月30日在温哥华孙中山中国古典园林的常驻艺术家。她出版了两本画册。2020年,她受邀参加 Tedx 演讲:成为我自己。2022年,她受邀西温哥华社区艺术委员会担任在Kay Meek艺术中心展览评审团的展览顾问。
她的艺术实践涉及空间(文化、自然、社会和个人)与她自己的文化身份之间的关系。移民这个主题对她来说具有个人意义。和其他移民一样,从她的家乡中国到加拿大,她一直在跨越国界和文化,在跨国身份的形成中挣扎,并重新认同自己是华裔加拿大人。作为加拿大的新移民,她经历了融合与冲突。一方面,她需要学习和理解新事物以适应她的东道国。另一方面,她总能感受到她故乡的牵引。在这两种文化之间挣扎多年后,她意识到,要她真正拥有单一的文化身份是不可能和不合理的。她开始问自己,生活在“介于”空间、文化和国家之间会是什么样子。她最终转向在一个新空间内对她的文化身份进行不同的调查。随着空间和时间的交织,她发现自己发生了转变,产生了个性和身份、过去和现在、内部和外部、包容和排斥的复杂配置。这些概念结合和重叠形成了她新的跨文化身份。
Artist Statement – Intricately Woven
During my childhood, I always saw my mum sitting on a big loom. A wooden shuttle was flying back and forth between two layers of cotton thread. Different plaid patterns slowly appeared. Hundred thread under my her hands were eventually transforming into a beautiful piece of cloth.
However, as time passed, the traditional wood loom began to vanish. New industries were rising in China. My father started to build up his high tech-knowledge factory. The conventional oil went through different, giant machines and came out white powder which was the main material of insulation for iPhone and space flight in the world. China’s economy was growing very quickly.
At the same time, the significant migration was brewing in China. People left rural areas for urban centres and foreign countries, in order to look for new opportunities. My family was part of this great migration, moving from the countryside to the city, and I, myself, left for Canada to pursue education. My new life in Canada brought about substantial changes, presenting both harmony and discord. I faced the challenge of adapting to a new culture while still feeling a strong connection to my roots. This internal struggle led me to question my true identity.
Over time, I eventually shifted to a different investigation of my cultural identity with a new understanding. Like the mum’s thread and father’s conventional oil have gone through long and hard processes, eventually becoming the final products with their specific missions. I have discovered a metamorphosis within myself, where the interplay of space and time weaves intricate patterns of individuality and identity, blending the past and present, the internal and external, and the realms of inclusion and exclusion. This amalgamation has given rise to my new transcultural identities. – Xiangmei Su 2023
艺术家陈述 – 千丝万缕系列作品
小时候,我常常看到妈妈坐在一台大织布机上。一只木梭在两层棉线之间来回⻜行。不同的格子图案慢慢出现。数百根棉线在她的手中最终变成了一匹美丽的布。然而,随着时间的推移,传统的木织机消失了。中国新兴产业不断崛起。我父亲开始建立他的高科技工厂。原油经过不同的巨型机器,最后生产出白色粉末产品,这是世界上苹果手机和太空⻜船中运用到的主要绝缘原材料。中国的经济在⻜速地增⻓。与此同时,中国正在酝酿大规模的人口迁移。人们离开乡镇地区到城市或国外,去寻找新的机会。我的家人是这次大移⺠中的一部分,从农村搬到城市,而我本人则前往加拿大留学。加拿大新生活给我带来了巨大的变化,有和谐,也有冲突。我面临着适应新文化的挑战,同时仍然感受到与我的根紧密联系。这种内心的挣扎让我质疑自己的真实身份。
慢慢地,我对我新的文化身份有了不同地理解。就像妈妈的织线和爸爸的原油一样,经历了漫⻓而艰苦的过程,最终成为具有特定使命的新产品。我发现了自己内心的蜕变,空间和时间的相互作用编织出复杂的个性和身份,融合了过去和现在、内部和外部、包容和排斥的领域。这种融合成就了我新的跨文化身份。
XIANGMEI SU – CV
Discipline: Installation, Photography, Video, Painting and Drawing
Research Interest: Identity and cultural hybridity
EDUCATION
2005-2010 B.A.
Dept. of Visual Arts, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions
2022 Intangible Thread: Part Two, Thread and Pin on Canvas, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancouver, BC., Canada
2022 Intangible Thread: Part One, Painting and Installation, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancouver, BC., Canada
2020 Interweaving, Painting and Installation, Seymour Art Gallery, North Vancouver, BC., Canada
2019 Fragments of Memory, Painting and Installation, Yeats Studio & Gallery, West，Vancouver, BC, Canada
2018 Crossing Between Grids, Photography and Installation,R Space, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2012 The Wind, Photography, video and Installation. Changshu Art Museum, Changshu, Jiangsu, China.
Group Exhibitions
2022 Group Show, Seymour Art Gallery, North Vancouver, BC., Canada
2021 ArtspaciVic, Aldergrove Kinsmen Community Centre Mail Hall Gallery, Langley, BC., Canada
2020 Natural Perspectives, Kay Meek Arts Centre, West Vancouver, BC., Canada
2018 Hometown, Changshu Culture Centre, Changshu, Jiangsu,Chia
2018 Bliss, Silk Purse Art Centre, Vancouvver, Canada
2017 Share, Changshu Culture Centre, Changshu, Jiangsu, China.
2011 Identity, Asian Centre, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. 2010
2010 BFA/BA Visual Art Graduating Exhibition, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
2010 Roberson Square Video Exhibition, Roberson Square, Vancouver, Canada.
PUBLICATIONS (Catalogues)
2018 Crossing Between Grids, an exhibition catalogue published by Canton Sardine, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 28 pages
2012 The Wind, an exhibition catalogue published by Changshu Art Museum, Changshu, Jiangsu, China. 28 pages
PUBLIC TALKS
2020 Becoming Who I Am, Tedx Talks, https://www.ted.com/talks/su_xiang_becoming_who_i_am_a_journey_through_the_evolution_of_an_artist
ADERVISOR
2022 Exhibition Advisor, West Vancouver Community Arts Council Jury for Exhibitions at the Kay Meek Arts Centre in 2022.
艺术家履历
媒介: 装置、摄影、影像、绘画
主题: 文化和身份
学历
2005-2010 视觉艺术本科,加拿大温哥华英属哥伦比亚大学。
个展
2022 “隐形的线:第二部分”,加拿大温哥华孙中山公园。
2022 “隐形的线:第一部分”,加拿大温哥华孙中山公园。
2020 “交织”,加拿大北温哥华Seymour画廊。
2019 “记忆的碎片”,加拿大西温哥华Yeats画廊。
2018 “格子”,加拿大温哥华融空间。
2012 “风”,中国江苏省常熟美术馆。
联展
2021 “” 加拿大兰利Aldergrove Kinsmen 交流中心画廊。
2020 “自然的视觉”,加拿大西温哥华Kinsmen交流中心。
2018 “家乡”,中国江苏省常熟艺术中心。
2018 “乐园”,加拿大西温哥华Silk Purse 艺术中心。
2017 “共享”, 江苏省常熟文化中心。
2011 “身份”,加拿大温哥华英属哥伦比亚大学亚洲中心。
2010 “2010视觉艺术毕业展”,加拿大温哥华哥伦比亚大学。
2010 “卢柏森广场影像展”,温哥华卢柏森广场。
画册
2018 “格子”, 加拿大温哥华沙甸咸水阜出版。
2012 “风”,江苏省常熟美术馆出版。
公共演讲
2020 “成为自己”, Tedx Talk,https://www.ted.com/talks/
su_xiang_becoming_who_i_am_a_journey_through_the_evolution_of_an_artist
艺术顾问
2022 展览顾问,加拿大西温哥华艺术协会。
