Chrystal Phan, the child of Vietnamese boat people, paints realistic scenes and creates multi-faceted installations that tell stories about second-generation Asian life in Canada.
Pool Party (oil on canvas, 48 x72″) and My Still Life were recently acquired by the Royal BC Museum
Phan is currently in a group exhibition (below) called Crossing: Art, Heritage, and Personal Journeys, which explores the stories of three British Columbia artists, whose families embarked on transformative journeys from Asia to Canada. (Crossing Exhibition)
Over 5,000 Vietnamese refugees came to British Columbia in 1979 and 80. Read more about that here.
Above: preparing for her exhibition I have something to tell you (2024), Plastisial clay, acrylic, nail polish . (See an Instagram process video on the apples, which are finished with nail polish.)
Why apples? Why nail polish?
“The apples are tied to the first years of immigration of Vietnamese people to Canada, the symbol of apples as precious and valued items. Juxtapose this to how I feel about apples as a second generation person. They’re often mealy and I don’t like them.
Why nail polish? To juxtapose the guilt of my privilege to avoid hard work to the honest labour of thousands of Vietnamese Canadian women who make their living working in nail salons.”
Chrystal Phan’s website, here.
Her Instagram, here.
AGGV exhibition https://aggv.ca/exhibits/crossing/
Top of post: Beach Buns, 2023, oil on canvas, 36 x 60 inches here.
READ MORE
A CBC profile of Chrystal Phan.
Learning Module with Chrystal Phan at the Royal BC Museum.
Chrystal Phan was noticed in the 2023 the Kingston Prize.
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Interesting, how does he make the pictures look so realistic. A sad comment at the end about apples and nail salons.