Current Activities

Taipa Village Cultural Association Exclusively Presents “Subtropical Romance - Paintings by Crystal W. M. Chan”

29/11/2024

Tapia Village Cultural Association is honoured to invite Macau artist Crystal W. M. Chan to exhibit a new collection of works that survey her emotional connection with travel.

"Subtropical Romance" is an exhibition of new paintings exploring Crystal W. M. Chan's personal relationship with the theme of travel and places manifested as desires, of climates and atmospheres both felt and remembered. The scenes depict places, people and plants as they develop and change. Like the tropics, they circulate in imaginations both personal and collective.  

Chan's new collection is inspired by the romance associated with the tropics. It explores a story that travellers share with others about their journeys on their return home, replete with distant beaches, exotic fruit and palm trees. These stories turn into fantasies and fictions that people consistently share about "the good life". 

"Growing up in Macau, I never thought of the city as part of that story, but now an endless stream of tourists come to town to escape from familiar things and find paradise in an unfamiliar place," Chan says.

Born and raised in Macau, and having lived in a number of other places, Chan experienced the city's transition from Portuguese to Chinese rule. That cultural shift and change in orientation led her to explore questions of identity and representation, their complexity, and the prejudices and expectations that identities prompt in society. Through her artwork, familiar yet not wholly distinct elements evoke feelings of displacement and estrangement, provoking consideration of the relationships between humans and their environments.

Affect and atmosphere are two recurrent elements in Chan's artwork. In her paintings, isolated figures and desolate landscapes are drawn with expressive lines and brushstrokes. In her sound installations, field recordings from the natural and urban environments combine with improvised music played on both traditional and non-traditional instruments to create an otherworldly atmosphere.

"Subtropical Romance is a literary theme that inspired Chan's latest series of new paintings, which could be interpreted as a visual narrative of a novel, uncovering the emotional connection between humans and exotic landscapes," said João Ó, curator and president of the Executive Board at Taipa Village Cultural Association. "This series of new paintings demonstrates Chan's  artistic talent in the medium and shows her ease with the act of painting, making its contemplation a natural connection with the viewer."

Taipa Village Cultural Association continues to bring together the endeavours of local and international artistic talents to exhibit myriad artworks in Taipa Village. This special exhibition of paintings further cements Taipa Village's position as a leading cultural and artistic destination in Macau and underlines its invaluable contribution to the promotion of the territory's cultural and creative industries.

Organiser:Taipa Village Cultural Association
Time of Event:12:00-20:00
Venue of Event:Taipa Village Art Space (No. 16-18, Rua dos Clerigos, Taipa, Macau)
Inquiry:(853) 2857 6212
E-mail:pamela.chan@taipavillagemacau.com
Website:www.taipavillagemacau.org.mo
Start Time of Event:04/12/2024
End Time of Event:08/02/2025
Sponsor(s):Cultural Development Fund of the Macao SAR

Related articles