Emily Chu

Mural Statement

The concept of this work is about memory, healing, and tea as medicines, from my memories that I wish to preserve from childhood. The narrative is light casting in a quiet room, pouring tea into cups, surrounded by plants that represent prosperity, healing, and growth.

The style will be of bolder graphic shapes (sharp edges), to contrast the softness of the scene and soft pastel colours. The soft colours are a representation of nostalgia, memory, grief, and multi-generational traditions. It is an identity piece of third culture – Of diaspora,lost/remembered cultural daily rituals, but also a meaningful act of preservation.

This is from a series of work I hope to make into paintings and murals, titled “capture to preserve”. As I grew up in Calgary, and the Devonian Gardens (in the old TD) was a place I spent with my grandma growing up, I thought this image would be appropriate for me to preserve at this site.