• So Close Yet So Far Away. Solo Exhibition by Chun Hua Catherine Dong at Gallery 101. Photo credit: Donald Lavoie

    Saturday, February 12, 2022 to Saturday, March 12, 2022

    In-person vernissage: Saturday February 12, 2:00-5:00 PM
    Artist talk (online): Tuesday February 22, 7:00 PM register here

    Gallery 101 is excited to open our 2022 exhibition calendar with So Close Yet So Far Away - a solo exhibition by Chun Hua Catherine Dong.

    Featuring VR, performance photographs, video, and neon and 3D-printed sculpture, this exhibition explores new digital possibilities for bridging gaps between memories and experience, and mediating contemporary culture with rich traditions preserved from Dong’s Chinese roots.

    In the space of digital experimentation and representation, Dong blurs boundaries of here and there, then and now, and the binaries of gender, merging states of being so close yet so far away.

    Promotional image photo credit: Donald Lavoie

    Artist Statement

    Body is political. Working within the gap between body as image and body as experienced reality, Chun Hua Catherine Dong uses the body—often their own body— as a visual territory in their work and a primary material to activate social commentary on gender, identity, and immigration. By encapsulating these global issues in microcosm or magnifying personal predicaments until they become universally visible, Dong presents the body as an embodiment of dynamic human relations, locating themselves at the nexus of author, artwork and audience.

    In Dong’s earlier works, the body represented ideological confrontation or political alienation. Dong developed the idea of representation as a political tool to give visibility to those made invisible by dominant ideologies. In Dong’s newer works, Dong views the body as a bridge connecting East and West, past and present, creating a new version of hybridity and striving to transcend and mend. Dong currently explores the subtle boundaries between art and technology.

    Chun Hua Catherine Dong thanks Canada Council for the Arts for its generous support.

     

    Vernissage & exhibition COVID protocols

    • No registration is required to visit the exhibition or opening.
    • For contract tracing purposes, guests will be asked to sign in with their name and contact info when they arrive.
    • Masks must be worn at all times.
    • Unfortunately due to the latest public health guidelines, we will not be serving food or drink at the vernissage.
    • Please do not visit if you’ve been experiencing, or have been in close contact with someone with COVID symptoms.