Kristi Chen views Shadows Between Us as a collaboration between past and future, an intersection of ancestral heritage, contemporary identity and human environmental interventions. As the artist states, ‘‘parts of my identity are embedded in the pieces I created, not a portrait, but a sense of my fragmented existence.’’ Showcasing objects ranging from woven pieces to garden sculptures and scented artefacts to furniture, the artist works with cords made from rubber and plastic in combination with natural woods while drawing on a familial archive of ancient knowledge. The paternal side of her family wove baskets as a means of survival in Shouning County, in Fujian province, China, while on her maternal side of the family, her great-grandfather Ho Chat Yuen was a Lingnan-style Chinese painter, blending Eastern and Western perspectives in his practice. Kristi Chen honours and expands on these ancestral techniques, incorporating synthetic and natural materials that symbolise the evolution of heritage in a modern context. Using her experience as a sculptor to create and preserve an intergenerational dialogue, the artist creates works that convey a certain ephemerality, transparency and fragility.

I would like to thank the Ontario Arts Council for their generous support in regards to this project