The ordinary and mundane is art.
A stick, a bench or a shirt can become the genesis for artistic inspiration for Vancouver-based artist Ron Tran.
Once an object is chosen, it’s time to let go and collaborate. It’s time to take a chance.
“It is something I am interested in – is chances – chances and not being in control of what I am going to make,” said Tran. “I like the idea of having a concept but not a full concept.”
Creating art is about taking risks. When Tran collaborates he takes a step into the unknown. He never knows what direction the other collaborator will take.
For his latest exhibit, Somewhat Mine: A Nanaimo Retrospective which is at the Nanaimo Art Gallery until May 14, Tran collaborated with artists, community members and students. Tran worked with Chantelle Delage, Marshal Hopkins, Denisa Kraus, Mon Petit Choux, Tuyet Anh Nguyen, Denise Tierney, Charlotte Zhang and students from Art Lab’s Saturday Studio.
To connect to the Nanaimo community and reflect it in his artwork he decided to live in Nanaimo for a few months and moved to the community in January.
Tran said any art is a form of communication, but when he creates his work he doesn’t have a message he is trying to convey. Once the art is complete, Tran said “I no longer feel like I have any responsibility in how people perceive it – read into my art – it’s just their interpretation.”
The theme of connections and relationships runs throughout his exhibit. The artwork in the exhibit is based on previous pieces Tran created but have been changed by the collaborative process.
One project, he created with Grade 11 student Zhang, is a series of shirts on hangers with pieces taken from photograph. Tran created the original based on photographs he took in Berlin. Zhang’s twist is the use of her family portraits. She took a portion of each photo such as a person in the background or a bag someone held, cropped them and used them as the T-shirt artwork.
Another piece, created by Tran, was inspired by the vandalism of Chinese real estate agent advertisements on bus stop benches last year in Nanaimo. Some of the benches had racial slurs painted on them and one had a swastika. It reminded Tran of a photo he took while travelling in Berlin of a bench with slurs against gay people. The bench also had a swastika on it. He is affixing his photos on a bench in the exhibit and people can watch a video he created where he creates clothing out items around him in bars, restaurants and other locations.
“It’s hard to determine what it is,” said Tran. “It could be a cross-dresser or someone from a different part of the world – tribal or traditional – but not really.”
For more information go to www.nanaimoartgallery.com.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
