Sami Tsang is a Toronto-based ceramic artist whose work explores domestic encounters and private narratives borne out of the flux amidst two cultures – Chinese and Western. Sami studied traditional Chinese painting for 7 years in Hong Kong, which profoundly affected her pursuit of an art career.
Sami earned her BA in Craft & Design from Sheridan College (2019) and her MFA in Ceramics from Alfred University, NY (2021). Sami has presented solo, and group exhibitions and art fairs in the United States and Canada, including Sculpture Space, NYC, The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, the Gardiner Museum, Cooper Cole Gallery, Toronto, ON, Toronto Art Fair and NADA Miami. Tsang’s work is included in private collections, Collection Majudia, and Gardiner Museum. Sami is an Artist-in-Residence (Ceramics) at Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, Canada).
~ Artist Statement ~
Being genuine is central to who I am. Mediated through materials and self-reflection, my work is a raw, truthful, and spontaneous response to how I feel in a given moment. My work is inspired by a sense of urgency to ask the question, what is so pressing?
The Initial sketches that inform my work are inspired by Chinese proverbs from my childhood memories. Additional themes of my work center on humor, vulnerability, challenging tradition and overcoming childhood into adulthood.
When I am creating ceramic sculptures, I work from a meditative place. As the piece evolves, I make additions to the work. My sculptures and drawings are representational of the different stages of my childhood and adolescence where I often felt repressed and silenced. The characters that appear in my work are responses to the moments when I felt entrapped in domestic settings, and then liberated as a Chinese Canadian woman artist.
My sculptural works feature ceramics, textiles, and rice paper covered in resin. My large-scale work point to the importance of representation and taking up space in connection with others.
As I continue to have difficult conversations with myself, the narratives I incorporate into my sculptures represent transformation, breaking boundaries and challenging tradition.
