Suk-Fong Red-Yellow-Blue

 

Suk-Fong – Red
Paul Wong, 2019
20” x 27”
digital print on photo matte paper

Suk-Fong – Yellow
Paul Wong, 2019
20” x 37”
digital print on photo matte paper

Suk-Fong – Blue
Paul Wong, 2019
20” x 27”
digital print on photo matte paper


Suk-Fong – Red-Yellow-Blue displayed in the Hall of One Hundred Rivers window frames during the 淑芳你好嘛 (Suk-Fong Nay Ho Mah) / Suk-Fong, How Are You? exhibition at the Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden. As a triptych, these show Suk-Fong through different stages of her life. On the left, two of her portraits from 1945 (age 20, photographed in China), and 1973 (age 48, photographed in Canada) are presented in Red. On the right, two of her portraits from 1990 (age 65), and 2010 (age 85) are presented in Blue. In the centre, a formal family portrait shows a four-month old Suk-Fong in 1925, photographed in Au Folk, Toisan, China, in Yellow.


Related Links

Family history: Paul Wong exhibition inspired by 700 letters written to his mother, Vancouver Sun, Kevin Griffin, January 11 2019

淑芳你好嘛?百封家書紀錄中加移民史, Ming Pao Canada, January 17 2019

Public Art Talk

 

January 19, 2019
Hall of One Hundred Rivers
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

Using the year-long residency as a case study, an inclusive forum-style discussion took place around the implications of having an artist-in-residence at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver’s Chinatown. Participants spoke from the heart of how this residency impacted their artistic practices, and institutional programming. 

Paul Wong invited other artists that had participated as part of the 身在唐人街 / OCCUPYING CHINATOWN residency. This included LAIWAN, whose work Movement  for Two Grannies: Five Variations, was exhibited in the Scholar’s Study (July 13 to September 23, 2018). And Kendall Yan (Maiden China), who was one of the drag performers at Gender Roles Playing on Stage (August 1, 2018). Also on the panel was Tatiana Mellema, Public Art Planner with the City of Vancouver Public Art Program, and Vincent Kwan, Executive Director at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Chinese Garden. Debbie Cheung, Marketing and Communications Manager at the Garden, moderated the event.

A video recording of the Public Art Talk is available for online viewing:

Mother’s Cupboard Chinese Medicine Workshop – Mr. Lau

 

As part of the 淑芳你好嘛 (Suk-Fong Nay Ho Mah) / Suk-Fong, How Are You? exhibition, an offsite workshop on Chinese herbs and medicines took place in one of Chinatown’s local medicine shops, Nam Bak Enterprises Ltd. 

The intention of this workshop was to specifically deconstruct and identify two of Suk-Fong’s jars. Mr. Lau is an expert on traditional Chinese medicine. Wong provided Mr. Lau with two jars. Prior to the workshop, the jars were opened, the contents strained, dried, and identified. The Nalley Jar was deer antler-based, and the Aylmer Jar was identified as snake-based. Each jar contained over a dozen ingredients that Mr. Lau was able to identify. Both of these elixirs are for internal use, and often added to soups.

At the workshop, he talked about the individual ingredients and their medicinal properties, giving participants a lively insight into the creative process of blending the yin and yang principles of Chinese medicines. Mr. Lau concluded the formal part of the workshop by packaging a prescription of dried herbs and medicines for the common cold. Participants freely shared personal family stories and knowledge, and took advantage of translators to shop.

Mr. Lau only spoke Chinese. Paul Wong and Mark Lee (Onion Language Centre) provided simultaneous interpretation in English, Cantonese, and Toisanese. This innovative and popular workshop was attended by primarily Chinese-Canadian participants. As far as we know, this was the first bilingual workshop to take place in a Chinese medicine shop in Chinatown.

Chinese Medicinal Soup Making – Marilynne Wong Jackson

 

Photography by Pandora Young

February 16, 2019
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

As part of the 淑芳你好嘛 (Suk-Fong Nay Ho Mah) / Suk-Fong, How Are You? exhibition, a medicinal soup making workshop took place in the Hall of One Hundred Rivers.

Paul Wong’s sister, Marilynne Wong Jackson, prepared and served two Chinese medicinal soups. These recipes were passed on to her by their mother, Suk-Fong. Many of the soups’ ingredients are found in Suk-Fong’s cupboard, and are readily available at Chinese herbal stores in Chinatown. To this day, Marilynne Wong Jackson continues to make these soups for her own family.

豬腳薑 Pig’s Trotter with Ginger Soup
This soup is served to new mothers during the golden month confinement after they give birth. Due to the ginger and vinegar, this soup is considered very “heat-y.” It is said to revitalize the blood depleted during the birth process.

藥膳湯 Soup for General Health and Immunity
This soup is made with bone broth and aromatics, such as ginger, scallions, carrot, and celery. Various melons are optional.

This workshop was a pre-registered event, and generated much interest among all members of the Chinese community. Special thanks to Amanda Huynh of Edible Projects, Jonas Hamre (Head Chef) and Ron Oliver (Bossman) of Mamie Taylor’s restaurant, and June Chow of BC Artscape Sun Wah


Related Links

Chinese Bowls of Balance, La Source, Colleen Addison, Vol. 19, Issue 14 – February 5–19, 2019

OCCUPYING CHINATOWN Open Studio

 

Paul Wong’s year-long residency at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden concluded with an open house and exhibition at his permanent Chinatown studio and gallery space in BC Artscape Sun Wah from April 4 to 6, 2019. 

This location has been the 身在唐人街 / OCCUPYING CHINATOWN studio and production space for the past year. This exhibition featured works from 淑芳你好嘛 (Suk-Fong Nay Ho Mah) / Suk-Fong, How Are You? including Father’s Words, Lai-Fong, and Gin Cheung wall scrolls, Snow’s 13-page letter 1994 table scroll, and Suk-Fong Red-Yellow-Blue. The open house also exhibited a wide array of accumulated artworks and projects created during this year-long residency. This includes neon, photographs, ephemera, and a new series of limited edition prints.


Featured artworks include:

媽媽的藥櫃 / Mother’s Cupboard (series of 10)
Paul Wong, 2019
24” X 36”
digital print on photo matte paper, edition of 5

父字 / Father’s Words triptych
Paul Wong, 2019
27.5” X 39.5”
digital print on bamboo paper, edition of 3

限华 / Chinese Only
Paul Wong, 2018
48″ x 26″ x 3.5”
neon, glass and steel with dimmer
This is a unique series designed for interior display and fitted for easy wall mounting. It is available in pink, yellow, red, and white, mounted on black plexiglass. All electronic components are hidden inside the plexiglass box, and is CSA certified.

Father’s Words
Paul Wong, 2019
30” x 102”
digital print on canvas wall scroll

Lai-Fong
Paul Wong, 2019
30” x 102”
digital print on canvas wall scroll

Gin-Cheung
Paul Wong, 2019
30” x 102”
digital print on canvas wall scroll

Snow’s 13-page letter, 1994
Paul Wong, 2019
16” x 181” and 12” x 136”
digital print on canvas table scroll

Suk-Fong – Red
Paul Wong, 2019
20” x 27”
digital print on photo matte paper

Suk-Fong – Yellow
Paul Wong, 2019
20” x 37”
digital print on photo matte paper

Suk-Fong – Blue
Paul Wong, 2019
20” x 27”
digital print on photo matte paper

父字 / Father’s Words

 

父字 / Father’s Words, August 24, 1964
Paul Wong, 2019
27.5” X 39.5”
digital print on bamboo paper, edition of 3

父字 / Father’s Words, December 29, 1971
Paul Wong, 2019
27.5” X 39.5”
digital print on bamboo paper, edition of 3

父字 / Father’s Words, June 22, 1973
Paul Wong, 2019
27.5” X 39.5”
digital print on bamboo paper, edition of 3


Father’s Words are three letters written over a period of 9 years from 1964 to 1973. He is Suk-Fong’s father, who was a banker, goldsmith, merchant, and landowner before the communist revolution. His land, businesses, and wealth were seized during the land reforms of the 1950s. His legs were broken in politically-motivated beatings during the years he was incarcerated in a re-education prison. In his letters, he often talks about his painful foot injuries, and the ongoing need for rare and expensive Chinese medicines. Perhaps in fear of government censorship, his internationally-destined letters were carefully worded, often emphasizing the much simpler life that now existed in the new People’s Republic of China.

Each letter is presented on its own, as a triptych. Variations on a photograph of Suk-Fong’s father disappears with each proceeding letter.

In addition to this triptych, Father’s Words also takes the form of a wall scroll, which featured in Paul Wong’s exhibition, 淑芳你好嘛 (Suk-Fong Nay Ho Mah) / Suk-Fong, How Are You?

父字 / Father’s Words exhibited at the OCCUPYING CHINATOWN studio from April, 2019.

父字 / Father’s Words, August 24, 1964

限华 / Chinese Only

 

限华 / Chinese Only
Paul Wong, 2018
48″ x 26″ x 3.5”
neon, glass and steel with dimmer.

This is a unique series designed for interior display and fitted for easy wall mounting. It is available in pink, yellow, red, and white, mounted on black plexiglass. All electronic components are hidden inside the plexiglass box, and is CSA certified.



In simplified Chinese Characters,
限华 / Chinese Only is a neon artwork in Chinese characters. 限 translates to “limit”, and 华 translates to Chinese. 限华 / Chinese Only takes the form of a ‘sign’ where it references a time when local white-only establishments blatantly refused and restricted Chinese people. 

The sign, however, can also be interpreted as “Chinese Exclusion” as, the characters 限 and 华 are often used to describe the country’s historical exclusion of Chinese people.