Artist Feature: Karen Tam 譚嘉文
Interviewed by Jennifer J. Lau
Photography Courtesy of the Koffler Gallery
Detail from installation, “Kiosk for the Silent Traveller” (2018), as installed at He Xiangning Art Museum, Photo Courtesy of the Koffler Gallery
Karen Tam (譚嘉文)’s solo exhibition will be held at the Koffler Centre of the Arts (Toronto) from January 23 to March 29, 2020. Entitled Karen Tam: the chrysanthemum has opened twelve times, visitors will explore the ways the installation artist wishes to challenge perceptions of cultural identity. The Canadian-born Chinese artist finished her graduate work in Chicago and after living in the United Kingdom for over six years she has now returned to her native Montréal.
Fête Chinoise interviewed her this week and wanted to share with you her insightful answers!
譚嘉文的個人藝術展即將於科夫勒藝術中心開幕，為此我們特別採訪了這位加拿大華裔藝術家。譚嘉文自2000年開始創作連結了她的加拿大成長經歷與北美華裔移民歷史研究的裝置藝術。此前，她的父母在蒙特利爾（滿地可）經營了二十五年的中餐館。2001年，當父母打算退休時，譚嘉文便開始以攝影、錄像、繪畫的方式來記錄這段家庭歷史。「我想換一種方式把我成長的地方保存下來，並與其他人分享這些與中國餐廳有關的記憶 — 吃的一頓中餐，那裡的打工經歷，或者經營中餐館的日子。以此為靈感，我在藝術展覽館和博物館的空間裡重建了北美中國餐館的內部裝潢，這也是我的第一個藝術裝置系列。」這個系列是向早期的中餐館創業者們的致敬，也是對現代社會思想的挑戰。希望我們的社會能夠發現西方對「東方人」或「外來人口」的成見是如何使 「自我代表」和「自我邊緣化」成為在外華人的生存策略的。
Details from installation-exhibition, “With wings like clouds hung from the sky,” as installed at Richmond Art Gallery, 2019, Photo Courtesy of the Koffler Gallery
Did you always want to be an installation artist? Why did you choose installation art to discuss diasporic and cultural encounters?
I started as a painting and drawing major in undergrad, later switching to sculpture for my MFA. Since 2000, my work has come out of my family's experiences in Canada, as well as my research into the history of the Chinese in North America, the spaces they have created for themselves, and chinoiserie (or the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese art).
My parents ran a restaurant in Montreal for over 25 years and when they talked about selling the business in 2001, I started documenting it through photographs, videos, and drawings. I wanted to capture the place where I grew up, and wondered how I could share with others the memories I had of this place, and that would evoke their own memories of either eating in a Chinese restaurant, or of working in or of running one.
This led to my first installation series where I recreated the interior of North American restaurants in gallery and museum spaces. This series has allowed me to pay homage to the experiences of the early Chinese restaurateurs and their families in face of intense discrimination and racism, but also to critically examine how Western perceptions of the East or the 'Other' have formed and the role of self-representation and self-exoticization in the diaspora as a survival strategy.
“What I love about creating installations is the immersive and site-specific nature of this form. Sculptures, paper-cutouts, drawings, videos, sound pieces, and found objects make up components of my installations but can also be stand-alone pieces. Installations can respond to the architecture and history of a space and can engage with all the senses. I am asking viewers to spend time within my installations, and through their interaction, the physical experience of the spaces and the materiality of the objects may lead viewers to a deeper understanding of a place, its history, and its community. ”
Details from installation-exhibition, “Nous sommes tous des brigands / We are all robbers,” (2017) as installed at EXPRESSION, Centre d'exposition de Saint-Hyacinthe, Photo Courtesy of the Koffler Gallery
What reactions did you expect when you recreated these nostalgic Chinese Canadian spaces?
My work is about cultural translations and mutual exchanges, and through my installations, I want to show a different perspective on these issues and other topics that interest me. By exploring and reflecting places that select and display a particular version of Chinese and North American Chinese culture, a version that may also be catering to popular imaginings and exoticized stereotypes, I hope to elicit reactions and questions in the viewer about places like these that have played role in influencing Western perceptions of the Chinese. I hope that my work can also spark constructive conversations and changes about how cultures are read, interpreted, and how we view things and others.
Details from installation-exhibition, “Nous sommes tous des brigands / We are all robbers,” (2017) as installed at EXPRESSION, Centre d'exposition de Saint-Hyacinthe, Photo Courtesy of the Koffler Gallery
What does being ethnically Chinese mean to you as a Chinese Canadian?
My experience is probably similar to that of most other Chinese Canadians. Growing up in an immigrant Chinese household in a predominantly French neighbourhood and having attended English schools, I find myself often negotiating and switching between languages and cultures. Within my own extended family, we all have a different relationship and connection to our Chinese heritage. Some do not speak Chinese at all and see themselves as completely Canadian, while others express a hybrid identity that blends elements of Chinese and Western cultures.
Detail from “Opium Den (Revisited)” (2010-17), as installed at Musée des beaux arts de Montreal, Photo Courtesy of the Koffler Gallery
Studio portrait of great-grandfather, Photo Courtesy of the Koffler Gallery
What's next for you?
The next little while will be quite busy for me! My touring solo show, “We are all robbers,” is currently on view at the Musée des beaux-arts du Sherbrooke in Québec and will travel to two more locations in 2021. Following that, I will be on several artist residencies out on the West Coast which will lead to solo exhibitions with Griffin Art Projects (Vancouver), Royal BC Museum (Victoria), and Campbell River Art Gallery (Campbell River) in 2020 and 2021.
Comment below if you are planning to visit this exhibition!
We would love to hear what you think!
Koffler Gallery
Artscape Youngplace,
180 Shaw St,
Toronto, ON
M6J 2W5
Winter Opening Reception: 7–9 p.m., Thursday, January 23, 2020