Artist Brendan Lee Satish Tang says it鈥檚 a Chinese tradition to make burnt paper offerings to one鈥檚 ancestors, and in his latest exhibition he鈥檚 offerings symbols representative of his Nanaimo upbringing.
He just hopes his forebears don鈥檛 return to sender.
Starting May 21 and continuing until July 11, Tang, who now lives in Vancouver, presents Reluctant Offerings at the Nanaimo Art Gallery. It鈥檚 his first Nanaimo show since 2007 and while it鈥檚 meaningful for him to make his return, he said it comes with 鈥渁nother level of pressure.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 people [in Nanaimo] that knew me when I was a kid so I feel like there is always the pressure of wanting to present something that people you know would find interesting,鈥� he said.
Tang describes the show as his most 鈥渞aw and vulnerable鈥� yet. Entering the gallery space will be reminiscent of walking into a forest campsite. The main component of the installation is a life-size replica of a 1984 Ford F-150 truck made out of watercolour paper set upon a campfire. Also on display are paper trucker hats and stubby beer bottles, and the trees in the clearing resemble those that hang from rear-view mirrors.
There鈥檚 also video of small burning paper trucks being played forward and backwards to represent a loss of communication with Tang鈥檚 ancestors.
鈥淲hen I say 鈥榬eluctant offering,鈥� it鈥檚 one of those things where I鈥檓 talking more about my distanced relationship with my ancestors and, though immigration and migration, losing contact with that history,鈥� Tang said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 reflecting on my own histories, my own personal history and disconnect, but also meditating and thinking about growing up in Nanaimo and growing up in Canada and what is that like and finding oneself within those spaces.鈥�
The show is also the first to engage with the NAG鈥檚 new thematic inquiry: what is progress? NAG curator Jesse Birch said in Tang鈥檚 case, that progress comes in the form of the adult reflecting on growing up in Nanaimo.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about thinking about ideas around nostalgia, ideas around comfort and discomfort around certain symbols that he was around at that age, including a Ford F-150, of course, which is the centrepiece of the show,鈥� Birch said. 鈥淏uts it鈥檚 mostly just thinking about that perspective looking backward to his young self looking forward to where he is now.鈥�
Tang鈥檚 work often deals with concepts of hybridity and mixing of cultures. He said ideas around belonging and fitting in are 鈥渕ulling over in my head a lot鈥� because it鈥檚 a reality he鈥檚 lived himself.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 get described as Canadian. When people look at me they鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, you鈥檙e Canadian?鈥� because I鈥檓 not white 鈥� but then when I go abroad I definitely feel Canadian, so there鈥檚 that part of it,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd then there鈥檚 also my Chinese and South Asian heritage 鈥� and I was originally born in Dublin, Ireland, so there鈥檚 a whole mix of figuring out where my place is and where I belong and where I feel like I belong.鈥�
WHAT鈥橲 ON 鈥� Brendan Lee Satish Tang presents Reluctant Offerings at the Nanaimo Art Gallery, 150 Commercial St., from May 21 to July 11. opening happens May 21 at 1 p.m.
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