Lili and the Migratory Influences: Living History
“Here I use drawing to address this elegy to my aunt. The challenge in depicting Lili is the reserve that she lived by; this notion is hard to represent and my intention is to touch upon it through indirect means peripheral to her person: books as still life … Still life also brings forth the memory objects hold and the meaning invested in them, intimate and public”. — Bernadette Phan
Through a series of sketches featuring books belonging to her late Aunt Lili, Bernadette Phan’s Lili and the Migratory Influences commemorates family, migration, and identity. As stated by the artist, Lili “refers to the multivalent meanings she encompasses: diaspora, migration, hybridity, intra-cultural realities, survival, a witness of historical and social changes”. Phan’s exhibit, showcased at the Bob Prittie Library in Burnaby until March 22nd, features numerous graphite sketches which are remarkably intricate, enchanting, and timeless.
Born and raised in Vietnam, Phan illustrates the history of her aunt’s love of literature in these detailed images. Distributed throughout the second floor of the library, the framed series of pictures blend into the library surroundings. Aside from one brief description of the showcase, very little signage indicates the presence of the exhibit itself. Library-goers were seemingly oblivious to the significance of the framed pieces hanging above their heads.
Phan’s series of sketches feature a number of literary works, most of which feature French titles. In contrast with her Vietnamese heritage, these French texts symbolize Aunt Lili’s experiences of traveling and traversing through diverse and different spaces. Phan’s drawings also exhibit the effects of colonialism and occupation, alluding to French intervention in Vietnam and its influence on Vietnamese culture and peoples. In a number of these sketches, Phan has also included excerpts from the texts, as well as some of her own notes and commentary, all of which are in French. Although the use of the French language is significant in relation to the origins of the texts, as well as remaining faithful to the memory of her Aunt, Phan alienates audiences who lack knowledge of the language. Viewers who are unable to understand French are lost in translation, and are left “outside” the concepts and the meaning of these passages. The barrier of language creates both “inside” and “outside” audiences: those who understand the meanings and titles of the texts, and those who do not. The noticeable lack of translation into English furthers this notion of the insider/outsider viewer. Through her sketches, Phan is able to generate visual art that is accessible, yet incomprehensible to audiences.
Phan’s exhibit transforms family memory into public art, interweaving personal and public history. Connecting the present with the past, each image serves as a token of remembrance and admiration for a woman who witnessed extraordinary “historical and social changes”. Lili and the Migratory Influences illustrates how the power of movement and culture can extend through generations, withstanding and resisting the passage of time.
Sources:
“Bernadette Phan: Lili and the Migratory Influences”. Burnaby Art Gallery: Exhibitions. The City of Burnaby, n.d. 3 March 2015.