Edward Fu-Chen Juan | Mending Roots

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Edward Fu-Chen Juan, "Move"

Courtesy of Edward Fu-Chen Juan.

Opening Reception: Jun 24, 2023 at 7pm – 9pm

Mending Roots is an exhibition by Edward Fu-Chen Juan that reflects his experience as a Taiwanese Canadian artist and an immigrant to Canada. The work explores his connections to his homeland of Taiwan through traditional techniques of printmaking and papermaking using indigenous plants.

In 2019, Edward received an invitation to create an exhibition at the SUHO Paper Memorial Museum in Taipei for 2023.  His concept was to collaborate with aboriginal Taiwanese knowledge keepers to bond traditional skill with contemporary art practice.  Due to the pandemic, Edward is unable to travel to Taiwan and pivot to work within British Columbia and his local artist community.

The calligraphic depiction of each specimen is inspired by the European manuscript and ancient Chinese oracle characters. Each calligraphy is silkscreen and chine-collé with sumi ink block mixed with plant-based ink extracted from the selected specimen.  Each set of characters is an idiom that describes the ecology and visual elements of the plant.

The lanterns are an extension of Edward exploring his Taiwanese Canadian identity.  Each lantern is fabricated from a Taiwanese Hakka family with generational skill of lantern fabrication.  The lanterns are traditionally hand painted and hung to decorate Confucius and Taoist temples.  Here the lanterns are enveloped with paper fiber of Taiwanese abacá palm and black cottonwood from Interior BC.  The paper is dyed from material remains of the calligraphy print series.

The “spirit money” paper concept originates from Edward’s 2021 collaborative residency with Damian John, a Tl’azt’en First Nation artist based in Southern Coastal BC.  In the shadow of the unmarked graves discovery at the Kamloops Residential School, they decided to create art pieces to take part in the grieving response.  Edward introduced to Damian the Asian tradition of burning paper charms in spiritual ceremonies to memorialize ancestors.  Since then, Edward has created stacks of spirit money from culturally significance trees such as the western cedar, black cottonwood, and Taiwanese abacá palm.

Edward Fu-Chen Juan is a contemporary visual artist based in Vancouver, BC, the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.  He identifies as a queer Taiwanese Canadian with ethnic roots from the Hakka and the Plains First Nation People of Taiwan.  His art practice is printmaking on paper with water-based ink extracted from plant and insect ingredients.  Presently, he has expanded his process to papermaking with unconventional plant fibres of significant cultural importance.

As a queer BIPOC person with indigenous ancestry, I am developing my art practice to cultivate a connection between traditional craftmanship and contemporary issues.  I am continuing my research of plant material for printmaking and papermaking techniques, with the objective of creating a mind of ecologically sustainable art production.  This concept is cultivated from my ongoing cultural exchanges with artists I previously worked with nationally and abroad.