AS FAR AWAY AS HEAVEN FROM EARTH

As Far Away As Heaven From Earth is an installation of five silk paintings with sound. Chan transcribes a bridal lament onto silk using Chinese brushwork, punctuating the painted text with pearl embroidery that resemble tears. In the accompanying audio work, Chan reworks the lament into an electronic composition through vocal manipulation, field recordings, and fragments of conversation with her elders.

Chan first learned the song from a bridal lament CD. Years later, she discovered it was in fact a funerary song. From amaranth to winter melon, the lament’s vegetable metaphors evoke the agrarian life of 圍頭 (Waitau/Weitou) women and their enduring relationship to the land.