The Gardiner Museum is open seven days a week. Explore our permanent collection, discover special exhibitions, get hands-on with clay in our studios, dine, shop, and more.
Enter an immersive world created by Montreal-based artist Karine Giboulo, brought to life by over 500 miniature polymer clay figures that tell stories about our most urgent social issues, from the pandemic to the climate crisis. It will delight visitors of all ages!
Registration for our popular March Break camps opens to Gardiner Friends on January 23 and to the general public on January 25. From March 13 - 17, kids and teens can explore the Museum and get creative with clay in our pottery studios!
Experience the Gardiner's world-renowned collection, in person and online. From Chinese porcelain to contemporary Canadian ceramics, discover the people and histories behind the objects.
Everyone can love clay! Become a Gardiner Friend and enjoy the benefits, including unlimited admission, advanced clay class registration, invitations to exhibition previews and special events, discounts on lectures and classes, and more.
2019 Gardiner Prize Winner
This lobby show features new work by Sami Tsang, the winner of the 2019 Gardiner Museum Prize, presented to a graduate of the Sheridan College Ceramics Program. The artist’s graphic, narrative sculptures negotiate her identity as a Canadian-born Chinese woman artist.
The Gardiner Museum’s Next Generation Program is made possible by Lead Supporter RBC Emerging Artists Project.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Growing up as the youngest child of a conservative Hong Kong family, my voice was not welcomed. The ability to speak soon faded away. I moved back to Canada at age 12, where the constant flux amidst Chinese and Western cultures created a series of traumatic issues. At 20, I began to resist my traditional role. Every day, I process my progress. I gather stories of domestic encounters and private narratives. I find relationships between these stories and the materials I use in my practice, such as clay, resin, rice paper and ballpoint pen. Is clay actually the old grump? Does making humorous sculpture help me to strip down guilt? Can using ballpoint pen bring back innocence? Chinese culture forbids speaking of family shame. My ultimate goal is to face head-on this heavy-hearted matter. When my heart allows, I convert these stories through the work of cartoon-like gesture into bearable, yet straightforward imagery to reveal the raw emotional experiences we share. Over time, I hope the sweet anticipation for mooncake parties will become fruitful.
About the artist
Sami Tsang was born in Canada and raised in Hong Kong. She studied traditional Chinese painting for 7 years, before returning to Canada to pursue her passion for art. She began her study of ceramics in the specialized art program at H. B. Beal Secondary School in London, Ontario. In 2015, she enrolled in the ceramics program at Sheridan College, where she was introduced to the broader clay community and guided attentively by her professors and peers. Tsang earned a Master of Fine Art degree in Ceramic Art at Alfred University (NY) in 2021. She has relocated to Toronto where she is currently establishing a studio.
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