Detail from an installation at Grande Riviere, Trinidad.
Detail from an installation at Grande Riviere, Trinidad.
Symbols of Endurance
15th February - 31st March, 2001
About the exhibition:
‘Symbols of Endurance’ is Kathryn Chan’s most recent work. The
work is made from various materials. Chan cuts the ideas out of brown paper
and then transforms them into wooden forms. The use of brown paper, similar
to cutting out a paper pattern for sewing, is a technique which Chan used in
mas making/carnival, and now uses for her own work. Later she develops the idea
into another version made from various materials and on a different scale. Many
pieces are made out of wood and painted in gouache or acrylic. While others
are wire and papier mache or even fabric and steel. Chan began
making these wooden forms after many years of painting in watercolours and oils.
The work in progress is inspired
by Chan’s experience in designing for theatre, contemporary dance and carnival.
She said, "the installation of the forms at different heights and in various
juxtapositions encourages the audience to walk through, under and around the
objects. This aspect of the work refers to nature, journeys in life, celebration
and carnival. The objects have an undercurrent of thought on society and popular
and political issues. One of the installations in ‘Symbols of Endurance’,
is called ‘Liquid Gold/Mirage’. It engages in the availability of
water for domestic use. It is coloured by the nostalgic and familiar yet enduring
images of people using rivers and standpipes. It calls to mind the rain and
gives a beautiful and emotional response to this issue of water in relation
to life in a tropical island in the developing world.
Kathryn Chan’s biography
Kathryn Chan is a Visual Artist and Theatre Designer. She has been working in
both these fields since 1989. ‘Symbols of Endurance’ is an installation
of a series of work which she began making at the ‘big River’ International
Artists’ Workshop in Grande Riviere, Trinidad in 1999 and at Vermont Studio
Center, USA in 2000. Chan has recently been awarded a fellowship from the UNESCO
International Fund for the Promotion of Culture to continue her work at a residency
at the Civitella Ranieri Center, in Italy later on this year..
‘Symbols of Endurance’
was displayed in The Main Gallery at CCA7 from February 15th to March 31st,
2001