Jean Chiang honors 'Mama G' in Revolution Gallery's 'Tea, Glorious Tea' Exhibition

Artist Jean Chiang honors 'Mama G' in the exhibition 'Tea, Glorious Tea' at Revolution Gallery in Jamaica. In the article below, Chiang recalls her memories of Eglantine Melita Buchanan Gordon and discusses the work included in this show.



FROM HANOVER TO MIAMI

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength” St. Francis de Sales (August 21, 1567 - December 28, 1622)

Eglantine Melita Buchanan Gordon came to mind when I heard this quote in May of this year.

I met Mama G in June, 2001, probably during my first show with Rosie Gordon Wallace and Diaspora Vibe Gallery in Miami. Mama G was undeniably the matriarch, wise, warm and welcoming with a beautiful smile, asking everyone to sign the guestbook at DVG openings. Her gentleness and strength were evident to me from the beginning. Only years later, did I find out that Mama G had purchased one of my pieces, Hand, a clay wall piece of my handprint, from that show. I was moved to hear about Mama G’s early support of my artwork.

Mama G with Roy, Rosie’s husband and Gordon, their son, was one of DVG’s staunchest supporters. Through the years, she attended many openings, always fashionably dressed for the occasion, meeting and greeting the many guests and friends. Mama G was a perfect ambassador for the artists and the gallery and we were always happy to have her presence and positive energy.

During the last nine years of working with Rosie and DVG, I saw Mama G countless times at home, sometimes having a meal together; sometimes Mama G was in her room watching her programs, enjoying Jeopardy, American Idol or Dancing With the Stars; sometimes we sat at the dining table with a cup of tea.

I remember having my first cup of ginger tea with Mama G, “good for the digestion”, I was told. I enjoyed our conversations together and I would try to tell Mama G funny stories or incidents to hear her laugh and shake her head at me as if to say, “Are you serious ?!” I’m sure that I told her about the 7’ dancing bear on a leash on the roadside in India or being asked if I was a ninja by an older woman in black on an overnight Greek ferry or being served an entire loaf or “tower of toast” served vertically on a tea saucer in a quick stop Mexican rail station.


In our times together, I knew Mama G to be “a virtuous woman -- dutiful, loyal, generous, faithful and strong” and....gentle. I never heard her raise her voice on any occasion but I knew that she could certainly make her opinions or ideas known without ever doing so. Twenty nine years ago, Mama G came from Jamaica, from Hanover to Miami. Nine years ago, I came from New York to Miami and became a better person for having known Mama G.


From Hanover to Miami is a mixed media work on paper to honor the life of Eglantine Melita Buchanan Gordon ( November 26, 1916 - June 10, 2010 ). Mama G touched so many lives in so many different ways; she will always be remembered and loved.

Many thanks to Carol Campbell and Revolution Gallery for continuing the tradition of Tea, Glorious Tea. This is the fourth year of my participation in the show.

Special thanks to Rosie Gordon Wallace, Roy Wallace, Gordon Myers and family for sharing their beloved Mama G with the world.

Sincere thanks, appreciation and much love to Rosie Gordon Wallace, Patricia Roldan and Diaspora Vibe Gallery for their support of my artwork through the years.

Jean Chiang and Teri Richardson Exhibit in 'A Woman's Work'

How Many Times by Jean Chiang


This review was originally published on blackartproject.blogspot.com



The Silent Voice that Roars / by Max Eternity, Guest Writer

As I stood in the midst of 4 rooms filled with works of art, all created by women, The Silent Voice that Roars, that’s what came to mind. I was attending the opening night reception of an exhibition at AVISCA fine art gallery, entitled "A Woman's Work." Located in suburban Atlanta, the venue--owned and operated by women, whose director is Byrma Braham, a native of Jamaica--is a contemporary fine art gallery specializing in artworks created by black artist in the Americas, Africa and the Caribbean. In this month--Women's History Month--such an eclectic show hosted in a uniquely intimate, elegant space, bears testament to the will of women of color--their ability to survive, create, contemplate and celebrate.

Take for instance South Carolina native, April Harrison. The three pieces that she’s exhibiting are mixed-media paintings in acrylic, watercolor, magazine print, old coins and other conjured material, featuring women and young girls unafraid to express their autonomy, independence and sass. The ladies depicted in Harrison's creations are a perfect parallel to her sophisticated use of substrate--a complex layering of paint on canvas with appliqués in found objects, re-purposed as funky belt buckles, earrings and necklaces.

Harrison's aesthetic is a rather painterly form of realism built upon figural stylizations that echo high-art illustrations, whereupon the shape of each person in her portraits are painted in a perspective, so that the women and girls framed within are deliberately placed well above the expected horizon, thus directing the eye of each viewer to gaze upward at the inspiring, color-filled bodies and faces. Through the hand of the artist, a relationship between gazer and subject matter easily develops, inviting admirers to experience a welcoming presence of humble grandeur, dignity and beauty. Of the women who have inspired Harrison throughout her life, she says "women contribute so much to society, yet they are expected to be silent...still, the powerful imprint of women is everywhere, as mothers, leaders, innovators and pioneers."

Hanging from above or suspended upon a wall, Teri Richardson’s sculptural collages in recycled denim capture the imagination, as does the Modern-esque paintings of Grace Kisa, whose harmonized, color-field abstractions in 2-D seem a lovely, visual throwback to the palette and playfulness of Jean Miro—also taking design cues from the carved massings of Dame Barbara Hepworth.

Yet even in the more abstract works, so much of the narrative seen in this thoughtfully-curated collection of sculpture, mix-media, paintings, drawings and prints, is exactly like the real-life narrative of everyday women who often ask themselves, am I beautiful enough, where do I fit in, do I have a right to be heard, why am I judged by the way I look, not the way I am, and why can’t I be intelligent, pretty AND strong?One exhibitor who has answers to many of these questions is D. Lammie-Hanson, a multi-disciplined artist born and raised in Harlem, New York. In her artist statement she says “My approach to most of the work that I create is a cross between socio-psychology experiment and storytelling. I focus on the beauty of womanhood without the traditional superficial trappings of appearance. In my paintings, I try to capture the woman’s true light… her personality and her soul.”

This is exactly what she does in a large 42in x 42in painting rendered on recycled tarp. In the painting, bubbling monochromatic color swirls about—baby blue to a more electric hue—coming together to form the face of a delightfully, beautiful woman. With an elegant dancer’s neck, the woman’s head gently arches to the side, expressing all at once, a state of sorrow, love, meditation, understanding and bliss. Looking it over, I see a soul laid bare, residing in a place of knowing. The piece is called “Upward Thoughts.”Another woman whose work caught my eye is Jean Chiang, a Chinese-American. Chiang sews lines of colored beads on canvas, which are patterned in an orchestrated fashion, reminiscent of abacus arrangements. Like Hanson, Chiang is also from New York, having grown up in the back of a Chinese Laundry.

Jean Chiang, "How Many Times
I was a bit confused when I first saw Chiang’s work, and I couldn’t get over the attentiveness to the detail in each of the pieces—the stillness and the silence--until I discovered that she has an interest in architecture, anthropology and archaeology. Then it all made sense, the way she constructs “historical” micro-sites, literally weaving and building her paintings as discovered artifacts, grounding each into a place of permanence. The work is here and now, but it also informs of some mysterious past. So evident is this in her diptych entitled “Inner Landscape”, created from acrylic, embroidery and beading on canvas.What a beautiful contemplation.

And that’s just it; the lights are on, shining bright, but not glaring. Wisdom is in all these exhibiting women’s minds, such as Zoya Taylor who paints her women proportioned as dolls—oversized heads with expressive world-weary, saucer-sized eyes of elders. Taylor’s take on the human imagination is that “We all have a cast of characters that define our lives…personal demons or angels--spiritual or not, there’s a commonality in these characters. They draw on human themes of secrecy, pride and hurt, but also humor and love.”


“A Woman’s Work” runs through April 30th, 2010.

Jean Chiang featured in 'Tea, Glorious Tea'

Jean Chiang featured in Tea, Glorious Tea

at Revolution Gallery in Kingston

Aug 27-Sept 26, 2009

maps, tea leaves

Read more about the exhibition here in the Jamaica Observer. Below, Jean Chiang offers her eloquent statement about the show.

READING TEA LEAVES by Jean Chiang

It is believed that the art of tasseography or reading tea leaves began with Buddhist monks. The monks would drink tea to stay awake during long hours of meditation. While meditating and looking into the bottom of an empty tea cup, the monks noticed patterns or symbols and began to “read” tea leaves.

The practice continued through the years and after tea was introduced to Europe, in the 1700’s, high tea in the afternoon, followed by tea parties and reading tea leaves became very popular.

In April, 2008, Rosie Gordon Wallace, Diaspora Vibe Gallery artists including Danny Ramiriez, Rodney Jackson, Erman Gonzalez, Alejandro Contreras, Gordon Myers and I, to name a few, were hosted by Deborah Jack and local artists, Lucinda Audain, Norma Trimborn and others in St. Maarten for the Second International Artists Biennial. Several artists and scholars were also invited, including Irene Peterson of Aruba, Jennifer Schmidt of Curacao, Christopher Cozier of Trinidad and last but not least, Carol Campbell of Jamaica. Imagine my delightful surprise when I was informed that Carol and I would be roommates for a few days !!!

Our artwork was installed at The Cultural Center with assistance by its artist/director Youmay Dormay with artwork by local artists. The opening and workshops on the following days were well attended and enjoyed by all.

Every evening, we would end the day with a group dinner with conversations reviewing the daily events, anticipating the next day, catching up with friends that we hadn’t seen or connecting with new friends we had just met. These evenings were as important as the artwork, the exhibits and workshops during the Biennial.

One evening, we decided to dine in the Chinese resaurant across the street from the hotel, The Prasangrahm or the former Govenor’s Palace. We sat at a large round table, about 12 of us, ordered many different dishes and had a delicious dinner. Of course, Chinese tea was served with the meal. Carol and I were seated next to each other. After dinner and finishing our tea, we noticed the loose tea leaves at the bottom of our cups and indulged in an attempt at tasseography !!! Carol looked at my tea leaves and if I remember correctly, she saw a flying figure. Alright, I thought, I always wanted to fly ! I looked at Carol’s tea leaves and saw a floral pattern, something more decorative than figurative. Carol thought that was agreeable. The evening continued and we enjoyed a few more readings around the table.

The art of tasseography is still practiced widely and taken quite seriously by its followers, using special teas, cups and study of its philosophy. For me, it is another form of meditation, a moment of reflection and insight inspired by a visual form. It is similar to looking at clouds in the sky, at trees and rock formations in nature or even ink blots. A form inspires a thought.

READING TEA LEAVES is a series of 6 canvases, 5” in diameter, painted, beaded and stitched. Three of them suggest green tea with symbols of a spiral or creativity, a horse shoe or good luck and a wavy line or water or purification. Three of them suggest black tea with symbols of a circle with a dot in the center or the sun or energy, diagonal lines or travel and a crescent moon or receptivity.

Many thanks to Carol Campbell, Diane Wright and Revolution Gallery for continuing the tradition of Tea, Glorious Tea. This is the third time that I have participated in this exhibit with special thanks to Rosie Gordon Wallace and Diaspora Vibe Gallery in Miami, Florida.

--Jean Chiang, c.2009

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Clay Exhibition Opening this Friday, August 21st

Please join us this Friday, August 21st, 2009
from 7 – 10pm for the opening of
Clay: New Works, with Caroline Holder
and Conversations with Clay
featuring Jean Chiang, Erman Gonzalez, Michael Layne, Rodney Jackson, and Annemiek van Kerkhof–Posthuma

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