"Cloth, wood, paper, buttons, glass, toothpicks, lawn grass, cinnamon sticks, garlic stems, glass beads, paint and ink. All the materials I have chosen are related to the concept of the work; each material carries its own character, or history which would become the heart of the work."
Kai Chan
Kai Chan, internationally recognized for his experimental approach to the art of textiles, immigrated to Canada from China in 1966. Chan is based in Toronto and conducts workshops across Canada.
Chan's work straddles many craft genres and has been exhibited and described as jewellery, basketry, tapestry, fashion, bookwork, fibre work, toys, contemporary art and sculpture. He has exhibited extensively across Canada, as well as in Austria, Australia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Art Gallery of Mississauga, the Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery and the Museum London in London, Ontario, mounted a major solo exhibition of Chan's work, Kai Chan: Rainbow Lakes, which toured across Canada. Chan's work is represented in numerous private and public collections.
