DUAL EXHIBITION: SPRING, IN THE POCKET
Artists: CLAIRE HEIDINGER & VON HYIN KOLK
Curator: CHUNCHUN TAO
Exhibition on View:
April 4 – April 21, 2024
Opening Reception:
April 5, 2024
6 - 9 PM
Location:
SOJOURNER GALLERY
178 Bleecker Street 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012
Sojourner Gallery is pleased to present "Spring, in the Pocket," curated by Chunchun Tao, a compelling dual exhibition showcasing the talents of Claire Heidinger and Von Hyin Kolk. “Spring, in the Pocket" evokes heartfelt nostalgia and memory, as experienced through the lives of two daughters of Chinese immigrants. Claire Heidinger and Von Hyin Kolk, sharing similar upbringings, present their artistic exploration of identity at cultural crossroads. In the diverse tapestry of America, Chinese food emerges as a poignant symbol—a vital thread connecting these artists to a heritage that has, for generations, wrestled with assimilation. The exhibition demonstrates how culinary traditions create a path to familial bonds and cultural awakening, fostering empathy and encouraging historical exploration at the family dinner table.
For Heidinger and Kolk, the kitchen transcends its traditional role, becoming both an archive and a sanctuary. Here, the act of dining is not mere routine but a rebellious affirmation of narratives that are deeply ingrained, yet often marginalized within the broader spectrum of American consciousness. This exhibition illuminates how, amidst the relentless currents of assimilation, the sensorial legacy of food remains steadfast, preserving language and customs where other cultural pillars have waned. It acts as an antidote to cultural amnesia, charting a path toward the rediscovery and reclamation of pride in one's heritage.
Claire Heidinger, a Chinese-Canadian artist working in NYC and Toronto, skillfully navigates the interplay of gaze and identity in her paintings and food-related installations. In her portrayal of bustling Chinese supermarkets, she captures not only the vibrancy of Chinese traditions but also the dynamic hustle of those thriving within the city. The green onion chandelier also serves as another emblematic representation of indispensable Chinese food ingredients, evoking deeply rooted memories.
Claire delights in the use of iconographic artistic practices that infuse her canvases with rich Chinese elements, offering an exploration of identity, belonging, and cultural hybridity. Through her art, we are engaged in the complex layering of life culture inherent in the migrant narrative, manifested in the intertwining interplay of ceramics and paint.
Working with diasporic narratives, Von Hyin Kolk's canvases vibrate with the complexities of her bicultural existence. They serve as visual memoirs, setting nostalgic Chinese motifs against surreal landscapes and balancing precariously between memory and fantasy. "Spring in the Pocket" embraces an ethereal quality in Kolk's depiction; her brush strokes convey a dream-like haze, a misty layering that suggests the ephemeral nature of memory itself. Through her paintings, one experiences a sensation akin to a dream, where the lines between reality and imagination blur, much like the immigrant experience of oscillating between two worlds.
Through the maximal collaging of vignettes from her childhood and current daily life, she chronicles the process of assimilation as it occurs within the creation of the paintings themselves. Furthermore, her choice of material also invokes the interstice of the assimilated experience: she mainly paints on vinyl, a synthetic material that is largely manufactured in China and exported elsewhere. By using the traditional process of canvas-stretching on the vinyl, Kolk imposes a naturalization onto the material to synthesize a familiarity; but the chemical makeup of the vinyl remains an unprecedented and unorthodox painting surface—mimicking her concurrent realities as both a homogenous and divergent identity.
In "Spring, in the Pocket," Heidinger and Kolk orchestrate a medley of flavors, customs, and personal stories, inviting visitors to immerse themselves in a cultural heritage as rich and complex as their own multifaceted identities. The gallery transforms into a realm of convergence, where the essences of food and recollection become a silent dialect of unity, spanning vast lands, and linking successive generations.
For further information, please contact the gallery at newyork@sojournergallery.com