24 February – 19 May 2023
Studio 531 Architects Satellite Gallery
546 Herald Street
Viewable 24/7 from street
About the Artist:
Cai Leting is a multi-media artist interested in challenging the boundaries of gender stereotypes. Her material practice ranges from small textile works to large-scale metal sculptures. In addition to weaving, crocheting, and felting, she has built a familiarity with other Western art forms including painting, welding, and sculptural construction. Her practice also incorporates traditional Chinese art forms like painting (Guohua) and calligraphy (Shufa). As a female Chinese artist, Cai aims to bring intersectionality not only to her artistic practice, but also the space that her art holds. Cai pursues art as a medium to spark conversation and as a vessel for cultural growth.
Over the past few years, Cai has brought innovative craftsmanship to her textile artwork as she challenges the relationship between domestic craft and institutional art, and the gendered stereotypes behind them. Through the exploration of relationships between traditional academic artmaking and gendered household duties, she realized how the female creative bodies of work have been devalued across institutions. In her inquiry series of domestic craft-making, Cai translated the language of crochet into different contemporary art forms to present an anti-stereotypical perspective for viewers to better understand and appreciate the knowledge and effort behind domestic artistic practices.
Statement:
As early as 907 AD, Chinese, blue and white porcelain served as a record of time, using stories and images to document the world around them. I created Blue and White Capsule to bring traditional Chinese art, practice, and knowledge into contemporary art through this felted time capsule.
Each panel of this vase has its own story to tell:
- Bamboo represents a modest and loyal personality in the Chinese rebus.
- The 2-meter social distancing illustrations along with a ring of mask pattern underneath represent the pandemic.
- Female figures with transitional Chinese costumes and hair styles were intentionally designed because most figurative characters in traditional Chinese art are only males.
- A jumping salmon in Chinese painting style is my tribute to West Coast Indigenous culture and land that I have lived on.
- The resting Tiger refers to my own cultural animal, year of the tiger.
- The architecture facade of the UVic Visual Arts building as the location of creation.
- The Yulan magnolia, which is the flower of Shanghai, depicted through double crochet symbols represents my domestic-art inquiry and my identity.
Rather than using a plinth for display, I created metal structures that mimic Taihu stones from Chinese gardens.
