Location: SinArts Gallery (Google Maps)

We are so excited to finally present the first solo show of Mel Chan at the gallery.

Mel Chan has created a completely new series of works inspired by the act of mourning as a means of resistance. Having lived in Hong Kong myself for a short while, this series and this exhibition have struck a personal chord with me as well. We hope to see many of you to reflect on these wonderful paintings and meditative video.⁠

In preparation her exhibition at SinArts Gallery in The Hague, we talked to Mel Chan about her practice since graduating from Master Artistic Research at KABK in 2019. The underlying meaning of paintings, coping with not being there and the mourning of the nameless who have fallen for a better society.

Painting is an act of duality.

 “I am captivated by the paradox of the painting process; On one hand, things appear in the moment (almost mindfulness, somewhat “carpe diem”) in a pure materialistic way-- the smell of the oil paint and the solvent, nuance of pigments, the roughness of the linen, the translation of light and shadows, construction of forms, depth, tone. Every act, no matter how trivial it seems, is capable to alter the outcome. Painting, in this sense, is the combination of many instances of “nowness”, and every choice an act of “no return”. But at the same time, what lay before me is not an empty canvas; rather, it is a portal for time travelling. Painting is a site of reverie where my thoughts journey through various realms. I not only contemplate upon the past, but also the causal relations of (historial) events, until meanings start to emerge.

This meditative aspect of painting leads to revelation. It is also a means of self-healing, a way to cope with the depressing everyday reality, be it from Hong Kong or Ukraine, Xinjiang or Myanmar. As such, to paint is to remember, to mourn; the object that emerged from such an act becomes the actual site of that same remembrance and mourning.”

Don’t Forget; Don’t Lose (莫失莫忘)

“In the literary classics The Dream of Red Mansion (紅樓夢), the two protagonists were (re-)incarnated into human beings to “pay the debt” of their past lives. One of them carried a jade with him at birth, with the words “Don’t Forget, Don’t Lose” engraved on it. The jade can be seen as a metaphor of acknowledging the past -- even if it is a distant past that precedes our lives, even to the extent of geological history (as in the book, in their “past lives”, the two were non-humans. One was a flower and the other, rain.) History is important because it makes now Now. Its locus extends into the future. We need history to understand who we are, and to make sense of the world around us. To forget is to stripe ourselves of their being.”

White Chrysanthemums and Prince Edward 

“When we look at history, we easily think of people in power. We tend to think that famous historical figures are the ones who make history. But, and I’m not the first to say this, it is the mass, the people, the ordinary nameless individuals, who are truly the most powerful force of history. The title of my upcoming exhibition suggests the anonymous majority (the White Chrysanthemums) stands before the individuals in power (in this case Prince Edward), if not occupying an equivalent position. By mourning the deceased, even, or especially, those whose names we can no longer trace, we honour those who fought for a better society, for freedom, for democracy. By mourning we can shed light in the darkness; we can put courage in fear, and hope in despair.”

Born in a former colony (Hong Kong) of the British Empire, grew up witnessing the paradigm shift (from neoliberalism to totalitarianism to ecological crisis) and lives as a diaspora in western Europe (the Netherlands), “The End of the World” for Mel Chan is much more than a metaphor -- it is a painful fact that we need to embrace, a “trouble” that we need to stay with (as Haraway advocates).

Her artistic research traces the intricate relations between our dystopian situation and the legacies of colonial past and (neo)colonial present. Encompassing participatory performances, hypnotherapy, storytelling, painting and video, her practices not only guide people to live with the crisis, they are also acknowledgement of historical causation, as well as remedies for (states-induced) amnesia. 

Based in the Netherlands, she has exhibited/performed in various art spaces in Den Haag (1646, Quartair, Stroom, The Grey Space in the Middle, Page Not Found), Rotterdam (V2, Roodkapje, Netherlands Fotomuseum, Goethe-Institut, Foundation B.a.d.), Amsterdam (De Balie, BigArt), Leiden (ACPA Conference), and Scotland (Hospitalfield), among others. She graduated from Master Artistic Research in The Royal Academy of Art The Hague (KABK) in 2019, and has a double major degree in Philosophy and Comparative Literature from the University of Hong Kong.

Mel Chan Artist Page →