When we have emotions and thoughts, we always like to talk about them. We call our friends to chat or post an Instagram Story for complaints on an awful day. But, expressing ourselves through words could sometimes be challenging. Sidi He, a Canadian-Chinese artist, has many special moments in her life and uses art to tell her stories.
Hello Sidi, can you please tell us about yourself and your connection with art?
I have loved drawing since I was in childhood. Sometimes I find it hard to express myself and my emotions, so I use art and drawing to convey what I’m feeling inside. Before I started and earned my MFA degree in Fine Arts at Parsons, I was traveling around the world. From Canada, Korea, to Britain, I learned and mastered floral design. My affection for flowers comes from their embodiment of time. Flowers bloom and wilt quickly, just like the passing of time. It also reminds me of my birthplace, Guangdong. Although I grew up in Canada and spent most of my time there, I always feel nostalgic for Guangdong. I want to express my feelings through art, so that’s also why I created Echoes from Home during my time at Parsons.
Can you please share more about your work Echoes from Home?
Echoes from Home is a very special project that I installed in my grandparents’ village Xiexiangtang, at work. My family and I had great memories of this beautiful and traditional place. However, many younger generations have moved out for career opportunities in the cities nearby in recent years. The village becomes a ghost town, and I want to bring living spirits back like they used to. So, I applied real-life heartbeat sounds of elderly residents in town as echos, representing pulses and lives. Echoes from Home makes the town revitalize.
You dedicate your life to considering the image of the homeland in the context of globalization. Do you have other works that show your effort?
Besides Echoes from Home, I also created Take Me Home and Walking on Time to show my homesickness. I remember that I spent lots of time in nature catching and storing insects in glass bottles to observe their beauty during my childhood. When I moved to a big city later, I’m aware of the fact that humans have utilized and exploited nature to generate industrial products. My childhood memories and adoration for nature motivate me to create the Take Me Home project. Creating a distance between the viewer and nature by placing pieces of leaves and insects in little bottles, I hope people will start to ruminate about their relationship to nature and nostalgia. Another project featuring nature is called Walking on Time. Whenever I see Walking on Time, I can imagine myself walking into the landscapes, similar to Guangdong’s scenes, in the painting. This is the work I imagined myself going home.
You are featured as one of the artists at WonderWorld NYC Pop-Up Art Museum. Can you please tell us more about it?
WonderWorld NYC Pop-Up Art Museum is an art exhibition and magical playground with a connected maze of fairytale installations from ancient Roman times to modern New York City. WonderWorld creates a whimsical but fun land, featuring the story of Alice in Wonderland. In accordance with the theme, I want to create an interactive space for visitors to reminisce about their naïve and happiness in their childhood. Inspired by Who Moved My Cheese, I positioned two huge pieces of cheese with holes and a couple of teacups in a room. The holes on cheeses are designed for children to chase and play around while finding joyfulness back. Moon Room is another of my work at WonderWorld. I was listening to Vaporwave music during the creation process, and ancient Rome in the music motivated me to characterize the moon for this work. Moon Room has a gigantic moon in the middle of the room with a pink wall all around. The moon symbolizes femininity, and the color pink is strongly associated with girls/women. I want to create a space for every girl and woman. It turns out visitors loved Moon Room, and the exhibition went successfully.
What’s your design goal? Do you have any plans for the future?
Being an immigrant and a long-term traveler, I always focus on overseas lives and experiences. Now, everything is changing since I entered my new stage as a mom. My focus and design have a huge transition from immigration to family. Mom has become a new part of my identity. I know some people and artists might lose themselves in motherhood, but I focus on myself while balancing my work and family life, as Csilla Klenyánszki does.
Can you tell us about Csilla Klenyánszki and how does her story influence you?
Csilla Klenyánszki is a founder of Mothers in Arts Residency, a studio space combined with communal daycare. She didn’t give up an art role when she became a mom. Instead, she found the best way to balance her career and family life, which I admire the most. My favorite work from Csilla is called Pillars of Home, the ninety-eight balancing sculptures created during her son’s napping time. Csilla Klenyánszki’s story and work encourage me to continue pursuing my passion for art.
You have experienced a huge transition in your life and career, can you please tell us more about it?
Alongside motherhood and COVID-19, I spent most of my time at home in the last two years. I started asking myself: Will there be a moment that you fall in love with every corner of your home? During this time, I created As Time Goes By, a project I want to deliver all our memories, pain, and joy. You can see flowers blooming everywhere in the house – in the fridge, dryer, and serving bowls. Flowers represent not only blessings, hopes, and love but my memories of this place where my family is protected from outside and nursed by. As Time Goes By changes my focus in a significant way. As I mentioned earlier, I’m an immigrant and a long-term traveler who concentrates on immigration and overseas experiences. Now, my family has become the most important part of my life and the design directions. My new role – mom – empowers me to bring my new feelings into future artworks.
