Generation One Artists 2017
Opening Reception, Saturday May 6, from 2-4pm
Lipont Centre
4211 No 3 Rd., Richmond, BC, V6X 2C3
604-285-9975
Exhibition runs from May 1 to June 4, 2017
This year’s exhibition has been juried by MAKIKO HARA, an Independent Curator, based in Vancouver and Tokyo. She has been researching and curating contemporary art internationally since the early 1990s. From 2007 to 2013 Hara served as Chief Curator at Centre A and in 2016, she is returning as Curator-in-Residence. Hara is specialised in socially engaged art practices and has curated numerous public art projects in Canada and Japan including Toronto Scotia Bank Nuit Blanche (2009), and most recently the 2014-15 artist-in-residence AIR 476 in Yonago, Japan, and the Koganecho Bazaar 2014 – Fictive Communities Asia, International Artist in Residency and Art Festival co-organised with Yokohama Triennial 2014. She was a Contributing Curator for Mash Up: The Birth of Modern Culture, coming up at Vancouver Art Gallery(2016), and recently appointed the International Exchange program Adviser at Akita University of Art, Japan.
This year’s generation one exhibition features the following artists:
- Shyh-Charng Lo
- Hai Ping Lee
- Neil Pan
- Ting Kwok Leung
- Neil McLaren
- Juliana Loh
- Xiao Feng Wu
- Jenny Wang Catton
- Jose Antonio “J.A.” Tan
- Tony Yin Tak Chu
- Ferdinand “Chito” Maravilla
- Grace L. Cuenca
Shyh-Charng Lo
Shyh-Charng Lo was born in Japan, raised in Taiwan, and immigrated to Canada in 1974. He was educated in Anthropology and Archaeology at the National Taiwan University (1970), received his MA at the University of British Columbia (1977) and a Masters of Museum Studies from the University of Toronto (1983). A self-taught painter, he left a position at the Royal Ontario Museum in 1989 to pursue a career in art. Since then he has held more than thirty solo exhibitions internationally and published ten catalogues.
This is her artist statement: Landscape, perhaps because it is a metaphor of memory and nostalgia, has been my main source of artistic inspiration. Painting mountains and water every day is my dialogue through nature with my inner-sense. I simplify the picture into a composition of only a few basic prototypes to explore the relationship between myself and the environment, describing the quiet, even romantics, and tranquility of the inner world.
By searching for the mysteries of the relationship between the inner emotions and the basic elements of modern art, such as shape, colour, light and so on, an art with consciousness, hope, poetry can be gradually revealed. Through this series of study, I form my own artistic style. After all, painting is only the presentation of the artist’s temperament.
Hai-Ping Lee
Hai-Ping Lee’s love of art began in Taiwan, where as a child she learned the techniques of traditional Chinese painting, which includes using a special tapered brush dipped in black or coloured ink to draw on rice paper or silk.
Four years of professional training in oil painting followed high school before moving to Canada where she soon enrolled in the Vancouver School of Arts (now the Emily Carr University of Art and Design). By combining her traditional background with new painting methods, HaiPing created a unique approach to oil and watercolour.
She says, “I want westerners to see my Chinese background and training, so I use traditional methods and brushwork combined with western themes.
Neil Pan
Neil Chien-Chung Pan is originally from Taiwan where he studied at Fu-Hsin Arts School and National Taiwan Academy of Arts. Neil moved to Canada in 1988 to continue his pursuit of fine art. His collective heritage and life experiences are reflected in his works. His art, “Como Lake” captures the beauty of an unseasonable snowfall of 2017 at the neighbouring Como lake.
Juliana Loh
Influenced by her favorite writers, science fiction concept artists, film directors and architects, Juliana’s artwork is high on imagination, composition, and detail. She excels at colour and composition. Juliana also moderates an online instagram community called Discover Prisma where she curates, mentors and teaches principles of design to people all over the world. Juliana draws her inspiration from life, nature, narratives and stories in the literary and digital world. She can be found hidden away in coffee shops observing people and photographing curiosities.
Xiaofeng Wu
Xiao Feng Wu was born in June 08, 1968 He majored in news publishing and art design program in China He is a modern artist, film director, and gallery projector and founder in China Xiao Feng Wu ‘s Chinese calligraphy and other various type of art works has been shown multiple times in many different art gallery events in different cities of China, for example, Hong Kong; and plenty of his art works has been collected massively by different art institutions and personal collectors.
Many of his films have been honoured with first price and special awards in the Chinese art film competition.
Xiao Feng Wu has travelled many places in the world to do filming and art work and recently he is staying in Vancouver to continue his journey of his art life. His artworks in this gallery shows what he sees and how he feels about this beautiful place, Vancouver, as a newcomer from China.
Ting Kwok Leung
Ting Kwok Leung was born in Hong Kong in 1977. Growing up with an artist father, Evan has been exposed to the arts for as long as he can remember. During his secondary school period, he was fascinated by the potential and creativeness from pottery and ceramics. From 1995 to 1999, he learned further ceramic skills from an active potter, PingKwong Wong, in Richmond, BC. Since 1998, he has been participating in certain solo and group exhibitions in Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Later on from 2001 to 2005, according to the passion and interest of Ting Kwok, he studied varieties of visual arts theories, mediums and techniques at Kwantlen University College and Emily Carr Institute.
His artworks have been included and awarded in juried art exhibitions of ARTS 2010 – 2012, in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and in International Triennial of Silicate Arts. In 2016, his ceramic works were selected and awarded in Taiwan Ceramics Biennale Exhibition, and now in the collection of New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum in Taiwan.
He says of his artworks, “The world turns all around, and time is changing but nothing to be blamed. We have limited control to life. Day after day, we have tasted pain, anger, sadness or happiness in different stages. Our lives are similarly short; but if we embrace impermanence and work with it, life could be a joy. Perhaps, we could appreciate the painful beauty gently passing by with appreciation as a unique lesson.”
Neil McLaren
Neil McLaren is a creative technologist based in Vancouver, BC. With a background in Computer Science and Psychology, he explores topics like distortion of time and space, geometry in nature, and how technology changes human interaction. His artwork often takes the form of interactive video projections and light sculptures, and has been displayed in Your Kontinent Festival, the HR MacMillan Space Centre Planetarium, and Integrate Arts Festival. He was awarded Best in Innovation at the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire in 2016.
Neil also runs the Vancouver Creative Technology meetup and taught creative coding for a youth mentorship program for emerging artists at VIVO Media Arts Centre and Tangible Interaction.
In his artist statement, Neil says, “I want to dance with abstract concepts I can barely wrap my head around. It’s one thing to learn by reading about a subject but if you can play with an idea like playing a musical instrument, you develop an intuition about it. You learn how it feels. In my art practice, I build interactive tools that help me learn how these abstract concepts feel. I refine these tools over time while exploring different visual representations and interactions. I hope to portray culture and the interactions between cultures in a beautiful way while giving you a feel for the delicate balance required to influence culture as an individual.”
Jenny Wang Catton
Visual Artist, Painter, Active member of Federation of Canadian Artist. Jenny was born in Xian, China and has been living in the Vancouver area for the past 12 years. She was very interested in visuals since she was a child. But only until the spring 2013, did she start her artistic journey with Emily Carr University. She will complete her study in advanced painting certified program by the spring of 2017.
Her media is oil, acrylic and mixed medium. Her works major in abstraction, inspired by her own imagination and influenced by how she reads/observes the world and ourselves. She tends to interpret her surroundings from the heart, attempting to unlock the spirit of her subject or imagination as opposed to recreating the visual reality we may see before us.
Jenny currently lives in beautiful sunny Tsawwassen, British Columbia Canada and she works from her studio close to her home. Jenny has exhibited her works in New York, Vancouver, and Tsawwassen.
In her artist statement, she describes her Series of work, “Sea We”, as inspired by the amazing landscape of Delta, with Ocean, Farmland, the salty water meet with the sweet water. She says, “This is my home, the sea and we, melted, bonded, connected.”
Jose Antonio “J.A.” Tan
J.A. Tan, a Vancouver based visual artist became a member of the exclusive United Nations stamp design club when his artwork, “Victory” was issued as a United Nations stamp on April 2012. Chosen from over 200 worldwide submissions, his piece echoes his vision as an artist.
Born and raised in the Philippines, J.A. moved to Vancouver and completed his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Emily Carr University of Art+Design in May 201O. Since then he has had solo and group shows in Canada, Philippines, USA, China, and U.K. He has also been commissioned to create pieces for homes and offices and has spoken in international conferences about how art informs his life. J.A- Tan describes himself as an artist with autism. Diagnosed as a high functioning child with autism before his third birthday, J.A. aims to show through art how his mind works.
He says, “Thru my work, I hope to make the world less scary for everyone.” For this submission with the theme “Celebrating mixed Asian heritage of Canada”, I have three pieces that represent how I celebrate my living here in Vancouver for the last 10 years while likewise celebrating my Philippine heritage.
My works, most of which are in the abstract genre, use powerful and strong colours as I speak in colours – each colour has a specific meaning in my works. Blue, green and yellow are my favourite colours. For me, blue stands for the sky, water, and freedom. Green represents grass, trees and peace. And yellow represents light, sun and happiness. These three qualities – freedom, peace, and happiness – are important recurring elements in these pieces. These are part of what life in Canada is for me.
Ferdinand “Chito” Maravilla
Chito Maravilla worked for 16 years as an art director at Campaigns & Grey Advertising in Manila holding important local and international accounts. Two of the TV spot animations he designed for Del Monte Juice drink and Department of Health won a Silver Award and received recognition.
Chito and his family moved to Canada in May 2002. After a month, he landed a job as a graphic designer at Creative Advertising in Richmond. Later on, he joined two playground manufacturing companies and as part of the team, designed the children’s playground at Guildford Mall, Brentwood Mall, Richmond Centre, and other parts of Canada and the US.
Chito’s works continue to receive awards and recognition including drawings on display at the Vancouver International Airport. He now works as graphic designer with Smartfilms and is an active participant of Dimasalang III Artists Group and other organizations in the community.
He lives with his wife and 2 sons, who are all very supportive of his arts.
Chito describes his work, “DiversCity” : “These are collected images I saw and felt of my city painted in a light-hearted parade of the social nature of the people. Their beliefs and perceptions of a diverse lifestyle are displayed by a vibrant, healthy, and harmonious community.” He goes on to say that: This is how rich and diverse this place is, and he’s proud to be a part of it.
Grace L. Cuenca
Grace L. Cuenca’s art works are mostly round shapes with stunning combinations of pattern, texture and colors added with shadows to create illusionary depth. The spinning character with rhythmic arrangement was later identified as Geometric Abstraction. After she was diagnosed from Ovarian Cancer, and while in recovery, her skill continued to flourish with images that profoundly move and stretch the imagination.
Grace graduated with a B. S. in Chemical Engineering at Cebu Institute of Technology, in the Philippines, and arrived in Canada as a contract worker. Her first landed immigrant status job was at an engineering consulting firm as a Copy Document Technician. She handled the reproduction of technical drawings that later inspired her to study parttime courses in Mechanical Drafting and ACAD-Computer Aided Drafting at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). She eventually studied fulltime and achieved a Mechanical Drafting Certificate at Vancouver Community College (VCC).
Grace then developed an interest in photography and it started to fill the empty space while going through life changes. She realized that a camera was not only a scientific wonder to possess but a glorious way to spend time in another world. She subsequently studied Photography at Langara College and continues to study Photoshop at Focal Point. Grace volunteers at the Vancouver Art Gallery and has exhibited at art spaces like Aberthau Mansion, Point Grey Community Center. Inspired by the exhibits, she continues to explore different ideas to create new art works that will connect to her cultural roots.
In her artist statement, she says, “The constant art visualisation provides me with magical interpretation with a flare of personal reflection.”