Being a second generation Chinese Canadian is an important part of Anita Wong's work. ON the surfaces of her current series of tondo-shaped plates, Wong states "the private realm of second generation Chinese Canadians becomes public." Wong feels "expressing this identity has become increasingly important because this process defines and redefines the enlightening and the mundane which are around me. More often of the latter, my content noetheless ceebrates what I know and like." As we peer into these narrative, familiar home scenes illustrated on round decorative bordered plates, we get a glimpse of this private world. Through these colorful and stylized drawings, Wong shares her world with us.
Artist Statement
My platework continues to explore the identification of my rural and agrarian and Chinese heritage. I love the decorative conventions of ceramics throughout history. In a somewhat focused and defined way I investigate the circular format with curiosity, pleasure, irony and detail. I have always admired the stridently utopian motives of movements like the Italian Futurists or Soviet revolutionary work. Quattrocento maiolica is also a favorite; it's the artisan's intent of passing on information that is intriguing.
