As a member of the greater Washington arts community and an active member of the Galleries of Dupont Circle Association, Studio Gallery is proud to promote a number of fellowship programs in honor of prominent Washington arts trailblazers. Through these two-year scholarship opportunities, local emerging artists between the ages of 21-30 gain their first entry to a professional gallery, where they can join a broad and diverse artistic community and display and market their work alongside that of established artists.
The Studio Gallery aims to expose new artists to the greater Washington, DC art world and to increase their professional skills by displaying their works within a gallery setting. Local emerging artists learn to: create a cohesive body of work, refine it with a curator, optimize its exhibition design and lighting selections, and maximize its potential for purchase through marketing, promotion, and sales techniques. Additionally, by joining an artist-run gallery, fellows meet and interact with a cross-section of working Washington, Maryland, and Virginia artists for informal networking and mentoring.
Earlier this year in February, we happily hosted a group show for our four fellows, as they came together to present HEAL. The show exhibited works of various mediums as they worked to unpack individual identity-centered healing practices through the process of making, and collective opportunities to come together. Among the exhibiting artists was Amity Chan, the current holder of our Jennie Lea Knight Fellowship, which is named for the noteworthy D.C. and VA artist and Studio Gallery Co-founder.
We recently caught up with Amity to learn more about her, see what she is currently working on, and what occupies her creative mind post-HEAL.
Amity at the 2023 Winter All Members Exhibition, Our Common Humanity
Amity is a D.C.-based multimedia artist and activist from Hong Kong with a BFA in General Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art. Her works have been shown both domestically and abroad at the Phillips Collection, Studio Gallery, NGO DEI Gallery, University of Washington, Torpedo Factory Arts Center, Studio Arts College International, and the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is currently in self-exile due to her continuous support of human rights and democracy in her home city.
Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa (Herbal Cough Syrup)
Amity Chan
2019
Screenprint on Canvas
31.5” x 36”
In HEAL, a number of Amity’s works shown were ones that were completed earlier in her artistic career, such as Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa (Herbal Cough Syrup) and The Lost Souls, both completed in 2019. She noted that although some pieces were created specifically in connection with the show and its theme, part of her focus remained on her historical adaption to the US, whether that be in conversation with finding her footing in her new city of Baltimore, navigating through a new immigration process, and most importantly, connecting with the local Hong Kong community.
As a Hong Kong native, Amity consistently champions sociopolitical causes and promotes a broader conversation surrounding the nature of freedom and democracy there, noting that her “practice is driven by a deep commitment to raising awareness of the social and political issues in Hong Kong, a home [she has] not been able to return to.” Recently, Amity was featured in an article by Radio Free Asia focusing on the lives of several Hong Kong expats who are sorrowfully watching their homeland from afar. In the article, Chan noted that although Hong Kong protests are no longer front-page news, “there are still people oppressed by the government, and there are still many people who are jailed or going through trial.” While the national firestorm of reactions to the Hong Kong democracy movement might not burn as brightly, Amity’s personal blaze undoubtedly rages on.
Photo by Amity Chan from the Rally and Vigil for Hong Kong, Washington D.C., 2019
Since that show, Amity has been creating a refreshed body of work to reflect a new stage in her life, having recently moved to the D.C. area while continuing to navigate post-grad life as an artist. Although unceasing in the cause that drives her activist art, she is deviating from the mediums used in HEAL and exploring other forms such as gauche while incorporating a return to larger-scale works. As inspiration and source material for this new work, she has engaged with a growing Hong Kong-based internet subculture, as she watches travel vlogs, daily documentations, and other short-form videos. Her confidence is bolstered by additional fellowships such as George Mason University’s Arts and Peacebuilding Culture Fellowship, and numerous successful shows both within Studio Gallery and outside of it, having recently shown in The Phillips Collection’s The James McLaughlin Memorial Staff Show: This is My Day Job, Too!, the University of Washington, Seattle’s Wandering Hong Kong, and Studio Gallery’s Life in Diaspora - New Works by Amity Chan, all of which have taken place this year. Outside of these exhibitions, she has found a broader and more cohesive Hong Kong community in D.C. and has felt a stronger sense of the word home while still abroad.
Amity at the Bethesda Chevy Chase High School for a Hong Kong community gathering (2024)
Outside of her connection to home, Amity is focusing on engaging more with an audience that might not be as familiar with her native culture and the sociopolitical issues surrounding it. Previously, she has shown interactive pieces such as her Lennon Wall, a nod to Prague’s memorial of the same name, which serves as a visual representation of culture, freedom, and political struggle. In her aforementioned Studio Gallery summer show titled Life in Diaspora - New Works by Amity Chan, curated by Deborah Addison Coburn and Miriam Keeler, interactive components resurfaced, such as What does “home” mean to you?, which encouraged viewers to share their personal thoughts and feelings surrounding the definition of home, and how that might differ based on one’s individual historical, socioeconomic, and sociopolitical background. In addition to the conversation on canvas, Amity wants to maintain a presence herself with the work, stimulating live conversations surrounding any questions that might surface with regard to the broader Hong Kong situation both at home and abroad with the ongoing struggle for cultural and political recognition in the United States.
What does “home” mean to you?
Amity Chan
2024
Mixed media on canvas, interactive artwork
40” x 30”
While moving forward her own conversation, Amity is also part of a broader discussion taking place within the Studio Gallery Fellowship community. Outside of their in-person conversations, one takes place on the gallery walls as well, as each of our four Fellows shares their unique backgrounds, experiences, and commentaries, all of which bounce off of each other to share ideas on what it means to relate to the self, one’s community, and the outside world. Apart from the relationship with her Fellows peers, Amity takes part in the Studio Gallery mentorship program, having been paired with member-artist Lynda Andrews-Barry. An important component of the gallery’s Fellowship programs, successful applicants are paired with an existing Studio Gallery member-artist based on the Fellow’s existing portfolio as well as aspirations regarding future areas of exploration, whether that be medium or message-based.
Amity Chan with her work HOME at Life in Diaspora - New Works by Amity Chan
The Studio Gallery community is thrilled to have Amity as a Fellow, and we wholeheartedly promote her future endeavors as an artist. To view more of Amity’s work, view her artist page on our website, our previous exhibitions tab, and Amity’s personal website.
Written by Staff Contributor John Swords