Transfer and Translation in “Lili and the Migratory Influences”
At Bernadette Phan’s “Lili and the Migratory Influences” art exhibit located at the Bob Prittie Burnaby Public Library, Phan uses creative representation to present a migrant identity of her aunt Lili. Phan’s charcoal drawings are showcased in white frames hanging from pillars on the second level of the library, and the exhibit as a whole appears to be ignored, drawing little attention from students huddled over their textbooks. This exhibit displays drawings of books her aunt Lili had brought back to Vietnam from Paris. These drawings not only reflect the personal record of her aunt Lili, but also embody the cultural influence of the time. Phan has gone further to reproduce the books in a creative process. She shares her representation of books as still life which “is a form of record that transcends genres and media and yet expresses our human, social and cultural nature” (Norman Bryson).
At first glance, all of the charcoal drawings seem foreign with the similar pattern of book covers with French titles. The drawings that stood out to me were the ones with illustrated covers, where Phan had used shading techniques to present the dimensions of the book and the cover illustrations. I will be focusing on two drawing collections: “Drawings Drawings” and “Rěve Sanges” that are both effective in depicting translation and transfer. I was interested in how Phan was able to creatively transfer and translate the books into a charcoal drawing on paper. I had questions about what was lost during the transfer and translation and how Phan’s drawings and perspectives created new meanings. Phan appears to transcend the notion of the untranslatable and the notion of the inability to transfer context. She does this by reproducing the historical importance of what one would be reading during migration and by sharing how art and literature can reflect a migrant identity. The drawings of the books can represent a record of memories and influences during a certain time period.
The “Drawings Drawings” collection showcases children novels that can represent the influence of literature the young migrant experiences. In one of the illustrations, a male figure appears to be coming out of the cover illustration. This can potentially exemplify the powerful influence of literature. In “Rěve Sanges” the titles of the novels all have the theme of dream and travel in common thus connecting to the migrant experience. Phan is successful in sharing how an object reproduced through a creative medium can actively engage the viewer with history. She transcends and breaks through the idea of the untranslatable, by physically translating the visual identity of novels. Her belief in the still life element of her art also expresses how material objects are able to transfer historical and cultural influences to the present. The value and historical importance books can hold is successfully represented in “Lili and the Migratory Influences”.
“Bernadette Phan: Lili and the Migratory Influences.” Burnaby.ca. n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2015.