Shelf Life.

Shelf Life.

A window project curated by Kegan McFadden
670 Fort Street

A group show presented sequentially, Shelf Life. is an examination of the finite, of mortality, exhaustion, and the possibility of what’s to come as well as what is left behind. Over the course of our time on Fort Street, we will be presenting the work of one artist at a time in the large windows, viewable any time of day or night.

The inaugural installation is by Chin Yuen, an artist whose major solo show the VAC was working towards for our Pat Martin Bates Gallery; this installation is referred to as a prelude as we intend on presenting Yuen’s solo show once our Gallery is restored.

May 2024: Takotsubo, a prelude by Chin Yuen

In response to the death of her mother, Mei Ying Wong (1938 – 2020), Chin Yuen began experiencing Takotsubo cardiomyopathy or “Broken Heart Syndrome.” The syndrome is coined as such since it causes a part of the heart to swell, resembling a Japanese octopus trap, takotsubo. As a way of processing the physical manifestation resulting from this profound grief, the artist turned to her studio and began experimenting intuitively with ceramics, creating a series of hand-pressed pots in the form of takotsubo.