Irene Chan, Sing: A Visual Poem, poetry, spoken word, photography, sculpture in a video

American, playing from Washington, DC, USA

Irene Chan is a multidisciplinary artist who works conceptually in print media, papermaking, installation, storytelling performance, and book arts. Her books and works on paper have been exhibited internationally and held in 70 public collections including the Walker Art Center, The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Tate Modern, Victoria & Albert Museum, and British Library in London. In 1995, Chan established Ch’An (ch’ ahn) Press through which she has self-published prints and 29 limited-edition artist books to date. She is the recipient of grants and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Arts Council, Maryland State Arts Council, Washington D.C. Commission of the Arts and Humanities, fellowships to 14 artist residencies, and has exhibited and performed in 76 venues in the last ten years.

Irene Chan holds an M.F.A. with honors from the San Francisco Art Institute and a degree in architecture (BArch) with a Minor in English from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She is an Associate Professor in the departments of Visual Arts (Head of Print Media) and Asian Studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, U.S.A.

Website: http://ch-anpress.com Contact: iypress@yahoo.com

Thoughts on the Telphone process

I found it difficult in the beginning to create a new work off of the video I saw. It was a video of a seed on a stomach, then water and soil were poured in layers. Meanwhile you could see the body undulating as it was breathing.

I was about to give up, but then I had a dream about my dying father's life. His mother had dreamed about him when she was carrying him before birth, and I, his daughter dreamed about him at the end of his life. And since it had to do with a lotus, water, dirt, and seed, I had what I needed to contribute to Telephone.