This exhibition brings together five pieces from Don Kwan’s photo series Quiet Resistance, Reclaiming Space (2022 to present) by curator Ashley Carmichael. Each depicts an iconic Canadian landscape framed by a traditional Chinese lantern panel.
The images displayed on the three west windows feature landscapes from across Canada. The east windows include sites from around the artist’s studio and home in the Ottawa Valley. By reframing these locations, Kwan expresses solidarity with marginalized groups. He sheds light on the struggles faced by marginalized communities, particularly Chinese Canadians, and addresses the ongoing fight for recognition, equality, and a sense of belonging.
Biographies
Artist
Don Kwan is a queer third-generation Chinese Canadian visual artist based in Ottawa. His artworks investigate Chinese Canadian diasporic experiences, especially as they concern identity, belonging, and place. He has exhibited his works across the nation. In 2022, he exhibited his works in the show Landscape, Loss, and Legacy at the Ottawa Art Gallery. During the same year, he was awarded the Peter Honeywell Mid-Career Artist Award by the Ottawa Arts Council.
Curator
Ashley Carmichael (b. 1996) is an Ottawa-based art historian and emerging curator of Filipino, Finnish, and Scottish heritage. Her research and curatorial interests are constantly changing; she is currently examining human relationships and interactions with nature and the environment. She recently co-curated Where We Stand (2022) at the Carleton University Art Gallery, an exhibition that explores concepts of place-making, and how artists create and shape particular places for themselves.