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The trace is not a presence ... exploring Chinese heritage through art

14 August 2024
Discover the unique perspectives of five Australian artists from the Chinese diaspora at the University of Sydney’s museum
Five Australian artists of Chinese heritage celebrate the evolving nature of identity in 'The trace is not a presence ...', at the Chau Chak Wing Museum's China Gallery, opening on 24 August.

Exploring the passage of time and memory, this exciting range of works includes paintings, sculptures, ceramics, installations, videos and prints. They connect the artists’ material histories – including historical objects and cultural items – with their present lives. The works often draw on familiar iconography and materials but are reconfigured and adapted to tell artists’ personal stories. 

A ‘trace’, China Gallery curator Shuxia Chen explains, is the passage of time, history, and memory delved into by the artists for this exhibit.

“These pieces illustrate how traces can be fabricated, replicated and threaded into the present,” she said. “They explore the power of ephemeral and intangible elements in art, challenging notions of presence and absence.

“Objects that belonged to the past are a fundamental element of this exhibition, with the artists reclaiming these objects, transforming them to the present – transcending the material and the history they embodied.”

Historical documents and cultural objects complement the contemporary works by these renowned and emerging artists.

Painting of a blue and white willow tree

Fan Dongwang, ‘Willow Tree’, 2024. Courtesy of the artist and Art Atrium Gallery.

Dongwang Fan will reclaim the iconic ‘Willow Pattern’, a design of willow trees that was appropriated in blue and white porcelain for European audiences. He reappropriates the pattern associated with Chinese culture and introduces elements of his Australian migration experience to his work. Fan has embraced a signature style, combining traditional Chinese carving techniques with new acrylic paintings. 

Thread suspended with pearl buttons attached.

Jenna Lee, ‘Bound by thread’, 2021. Installation view, Hyphenated Biennial, The Substation, 2021. Image credit: Janelle Low

Jenna Lee, a Larrakia artist with Chinese, Japanese and Anglo Australian heritage, is presenting an exploration of core moments in Australian history through the lens of her own family history. Her work specifically relates to the pearl shell button industry in Australia during the late 1800s, reshaping found objects into new narratives. 

Installation of two video projections

Cyrus Tang, ‘The Final Cast Off (Alice Lim Kee and Daisy Kwok)’, 2016-2017. Courtesy of the artist and Arc One Gallery, Melbourne. Image credit: Cyrus Tang

Cyrus Tang presents video projection of recreated portraits made of charcoal mixed with the ashes of incense dissolving in water. The portraits are of two significant Australian-Chinese women, Alice Lim Kee and Daisy Kwok, who helped fundraise for war relief during World War II. Tang celebrates them as Chinese women who confronted and rejected traditional expectations and roles set upon them. Tang’s other presentation for this exhibit uses firing process in ceramic practice to transform a set of antique encyclopedias into new form, exploring the concept of knowledge and learning from our past. 

Print mounted on a wall of a tiny diary

John Young, ‘Times Slow Passing #1’, 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Image credit: The Australian Print Workshop

An alumnus of Sydney College of the Arts, John Young returns to the University to present a project of retelling. His work is a replica of a palm-sized diary written by Chinese-Australian miner Jong Ah Siug who had come to Australia to find gold but was unjustly incarcerated for 33 years in lunatic asylums. He learnt English in an attempt to exonerate himself which he documented in his diary. Young hand-traced Jong Ah Siug’s words of broken English (with Cantonese grammar) to create his presentation, the process of which evoked reflections on agency, endurance and hope. The original diary, written in 1866 is displayed alongside Young’s prints.

Pink and pearl coloured sculpture on a plinth

Louise Zhang, ‘Python egg on scholar rock (large)’, 2022. Courtesy of the artist and N. Smith Gallery, Sydney. Image credit: Jessica Maurer

Louise Zhang 张露茜 is a Chinese-Australian multidisciplinary artist who presents sculptural works in her signature hyper-coloured and sugary palette. Zhang contrasts attraction and repulsion in her works to navigate the anxiety, fear and ‘otherness’ reflected in her identity. A 2024 Wynne Prize finalist, Zhang has developed a large following for works that mash together diverse references, like horror films and Chinese mythology. 

Michael Dagostino, Director of the Chau Chak Wing Museum said that this exhibition speaks to the rich history of the Chinese diaspora and its history in Australia.

"The Chinese diaspora in Australia is a unique story of migration, adaptation, and resilience. Its complexity lies not just in the varied origins and experiences of its people, but in how these narratives interlace to shape a multifaceted, dynamic heritage that enriches the Australian cultural landscape."

The trace is not a presence … tells the story of some of these unique perspectives, encouraging a visitor to learn and delve deeper about the materiality of an artist’s world. The artists and their works reject the concept of defining, instead embracing the ongoing journey of identity, of which doesn’t neatly fit one ideal but reflects the multifaceted experience of the artist and the sub-cultures of which they belong.”

Juliet Rayner

Media and PR Advisor Assistant

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