Culture Surfing

When Ting Ying Han left Taipei, Taiwan, a few years ago to pursue art in the U.S., the 23-year-old left behind more than a city. In many ways, Han also shed her identity as she — and her family and friends — knew it. She gladly shook off the restraints of her rigid Chinese upbringing to freely pursue art and sculpture in Atlanta. But the metamorphosis hasn’t been without its challenges. Han leads a double life of sorts, her family ties becoming increasingly tenuous as more time passes. It’s not a huge surprise, then, that Han’s work fixates on family, objects and spatial relationtionships. “Missing,” her meticulously crafted rice table now on view in Spruill Gallery’s Emerging Artists 2009, is a heartfelt meditation on absence.

Where were you born and when did you come to the U.S.?
I was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and came here when I was 23. I [wanted to come] here for a long, long time. Actually when I was little, I was told I can come to U.S. for education and my dad refused me to go until I finished a degree in business administration.

Continue reading “Speakeasy with Ting Ying Han”

(Photo by Sean Ludwig)

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Dear neighbors,

I’d like to draw your attention to two WonderRoot exhibitions by emerging artists. I say this, of course, keeping in mind my typical distrust of the phrase, emerging artist: When exactly does a creative person, whether a musician, writer, film director, or visual artist start and stop emerging? I suppose, as long as the term retains marketing value for you, you could technically begin as an emerging artist at birth (emerging, literally), and then finally dispense with the label when it’s no longer of use … at the nursing home.

Semantics aside — if you LUV ATL like I do — you should definitely check out WonderRoot’s schedule for the weekend. Today, May 28 from 5-7 p.m. at Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery, volunteer instructors including photographer Nicole Akstein will present a body of photos by students from Sequoya Middle School. The program was a cooperative, educational initiative between WonderRoot and CPACS, the Center for Pan Asian Community Services, a local nonprofit that offers social and health services to immigrants, refugees, and racial-ethnic minorities. If you ask me, middle school students certainly qualify as emerging artists.

On Sat., May 30, beginning around 4 p.m., stop by WonderRoot headquarters on Memorial Drive for the WonderRoot One-Year Anniversary, celebrating 365 days since the official opening of the community center. The event coincides with an all-media exhibition titled I Love Atlanta, which put out a call to artists to express their undying affection for dear ‘ole A. (Additionally, I hear there may be special shenanigans involving cofounder Chris Appleton….) Steal the show flyer here for more info on musical guests.

For more local arts events, visit clatl.com/events or, check today’s visual arts To Do List at BurnAway.org.

(Photo courtesy WonderRoot/Thoughtmarker)

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