Sami Tsang
Sami Tsang is a Toronto based ceramic artist whose work explores domestic encounters and private narratives borne out of the flux amidst two cultures – Chinese and Western.
Sami studied traditional Chinese painting for 7 years in Hong Kong, which had a profound effect on her pursuing an arts career. Returning to Canada, Sami first studied ceramics at H.B. Secondary School in London, ON, renowned for its arts program, then earned her BA Craft & Design from Sheridan College (2002) and her MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University, NY (2021). Sami has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions in the United States and Canada, including the ClayAkar Gallery, Iowa City, IA, the Gardiner Museum and Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, ON.
Artist Statement
Growing up as the youngest child of a conservative Hong Kong family, my voice was not welcomed. The ability to speak faded away. At 12, I moved back to Canada, where a series of traumatic issues were created by the constant flux amidst two cultures - Chinese and Western. At 20, I began to resist my traditional role. Every day, I process my progress. I gather stories of domestic encounters and private narratives. Simultaneously, I find relationships between these stories and the materials I use in my practice, such as resin, rice paper and ball point pen. I ask: Is clay actually the old grump? Does making humorous sculpture help me to strip down guilt? Can using ball point pen bring back innocence? In Chinese culture, it is forbidden to speak of family shame. My ultimate goal is to face head-on the heavy hearted matter. When the heart allows, I convert these stories through the work of cartoonistic gesture into bearable, yet straightforward imagery to reveal the raw emotional experiences we share. Over time, I hope the sweet anticipation for mooncake parties will become fruitful.
