Lesson Content

1. Meet Wai Ching Chan

   Wai Ching Chan is a Hong Kong born, Auckland based artist, who uses a series of knot, which according to “Wai Ching Chan: Connecting the Endless Knot | The Dowse Art Museum,” 2021, works act as love letters built through the accumulated symbolic meaning of individual knots. Here, ‘The Button Knot’ symbolises holding what was separated together, while ‘The Caisson Knot’ establishes connection between ourselves and the world, and ‘The Endless Knot’ is typically seen as the ‘Good Luck Knot’, which is eternal blessings, friendship and connection.

   According to “May Fair Art Fair,” 2020, and “Wishing Well | Enjoy Contemporary Art Space,” 2019, through her work, Wai Ching expresses the need to defend, embrace, reconstruct, and strengthen the bonds and unity that exists between tauiwi and tangata whenua in Aotearoa, respecting the differences in culture. The knots come together like the lyrics to a song and together, they make up a bridge that leads us to discovering and understanding something important.

   

   Wai Ching Chan, Wishing Well, 2019

2. Looking at her exhibition “Wishing Well”, Wai Ching continues her ongoing research by collating knots made by workshop participants in two one-day workshops held at Enjoy before the exhibition. Here, the artist led a range of participants in learning three traditional knots. Altogether, with new and existing work by Wai Ching, she was able to extend her inquiry to the space of the gallery.

   According to “Wishing Well | Enjoy Contemporary Art Space,” 2019, these events also acted as an invitation to make conversation and to widely consider the symbolism of knots. While Chinese Knots are sometimes misunderstood as decorative objects, they create material links between the past, present and future. Taking this approach to knotting as a means to bind fragments of heritage, remembrance, and connection, Wishing Well presents Chinese Knots as a physical language that has the potential to “speak between” shared values while respecting difference, which is a valuable lesson we all need to experience.

   

   Wai Ching Chan, Wishing Well workshop participants, 2019

More work by Wai Ching Chan

1. 

   Wai Ching Chan, Hold, 2019

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