Made in China (2013)
Nancy Chew
,
Jacqueline Metz
8180 Lansdowne Road
Area:
City Centre
Location:
Located at the entrance to residential development.
photo by Metz & Chew
Materials:
Cast aluminum, enamel paint
Program: Private
Ownership: Private
Sponsored By: Appia Group of Companies
Description of Work
Set on each of the five low walls and facing the walkway is a dragon, traditionally a benevolent and auspicious symbol. The mythical figure is at human scale - each dragon gazes at the passerby at eye level. These dragons recall the magnificent stone and bronze sculptures of old China, yet a more direct reference is to the mass-produced ephemera of the modern era. The dragons are identical, made from the same mold; an apparent seam reveals the industrial process; the chromed finish transposes the dragon from traditional to modern, urban.
Artist Statement
The artwork refers to a history of immigration, to ongoing immigration, of a culture transposed from one place to another. There is a sense of place and displacement, of cross-cultural references. The dragons are at a “domestic” scale appropriate for the residential development - set atop the concrete walls they remind us of western gargoyles; set within the landscaped forecourt holding their seamed “balls” they are humorous and playful - like garden gnomes.
The process of developing the artwork forms another layered commentary: a mass-produced dragon figurine from China is scaled back up to a “monumental” scale and fabricated using a traditional, handcrafted lost-wax casting process. The artwork is marked by both industrial and historic sculptural processes.
'made in china' is a subtle commentary on shifts in political idealogy and symbolic meaning. It is about the transformation that takes place when an ancient culture becomes a major industrial and consumer culture. It is about continuity and change - how symbols may retain their potency yet also become decorative - about what becomes lost, or altered, on the way to something new.