Hang with the Best

Moi 

Last night was the opening reception for Hang with the Best at Toronto Image Works. I was honoured to have a selection of my work from All is Vanity included in this show, especially since the award winning Ed Burtynsky also had a piece there (Ed is a famous Canadian photographer who is known for capturing monumental landscapes that reflect the changes inflicted by man).

At a fete filled with photographers, it was somewhat ironic that my photo was taken with an iphone but hey, it's all I had in my purse!

Lately, I've been torturing myself on trying to decide whether I should focus on writing, research or my art practice.... I love and hate them all if you know what I mean. As much as I love the arts, there is also a hefty dose of rejection associated with it...  Plus after a few days in the studio, my brain screams for more intellectual pursuits. Doing research at the museum seems to counteract that and yet I am also painfully aware that I do not have the "right" credentials. Plus I cannot sit chained to a computer or scanner all day either. Is there a right answer?

Women of Armour by Ingrid Mida 2011

Maybe the right answer is that there is no answer. Funny how writing a blog post can clarify things...

Hang with the Best continues at Toronto Image Works Gallery at 80 Spadina Avenue in Toronto until July 17, 2011.

Chanel Fall 2011 Couture

Chanel F/W 2011 Couture

If you could own one piece of couture, would you chose a Chanel tweed suit?

Karl Lagerfeld's most recent collection for Chanel Fall 2011 reinvents the tweed suit in a myriad of ways. Some of the suits separate into three pieces. Surface effects with sequins and shredded fabric also modernize the look. The palette is mostly gray, black and cream but is punctuated with begonia pink. Jaunty boater-like hats, scraps of lace over the eyes, fingerless gloves and boots complete the look for fall 2011.

Chanel F/W Couture 2011

Evening Gown from Chanel Couture F/W 2011

As fabulous as this collection was, it did strike me that even some of these young, gorgeous models looked - dare I say it - a tad dowdy.

Chanel Couture F/W 2011

With the heavy tweed, a boxy silhouette, and the ugliest part of the knee exposed above the boot, it made some models look matronly. Given that the target customer for these suits is probably much older, wider and heavier than the runway models, if you can afford one of these suits, be sure to make your choice carefully!

Chanel Couture F/W 2011

Book Review: Girl in Translation

Although most of us probably think that sweatshops no longer exist, every cheap piece of clothing that we buy probably came from one. It wasn't until I read the novel Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok that I understood what goes on in such places. There used to be a "sweatshop"  not far from my studio.  This place was off limits so to speak - marked by heavy doors with Chinese characters - from which  tired and sweaty workers emerged covered with fibres and still wearing dust masks over their faces. I never really gave it much thought until I read this book...

Girl in Translation is about a young girl named Kimberly Chan who comes to New York from Hong Kong with her mother. Burdened by the heavy debt owed to the aunt who helped them immigrate,  they are at the mercy of this mean-spirited relative who also runs the clothing factory in which they must work. With the mother's piece work wages garnished to repay the debt, they have no choice but to live in a roach and rat filled apartment without heat in Harlem.  Kimberly works with her mother at the factory after school and on Saturdays while trying to learn English and do her schoolwork. Her innate intelligence, hard work and resilience serve her well and she manages to earn a scholarship to a private high school where she is able to start the slow climb to a better life.

This coming of age story is utterly compelling and it is the type of book that is hard to put down. The reality of the sweatshop is so grim and so horrible that it is hard to fathom how any of it could possibly be true.... And yet, the author herself came from such a background, earning a bachelor's degree from Harvard and an MFA in fiction at Columbia. Although the book is clearly semi-autobiographical, I almost wish the author had written it as a memoir so I had a better sense of where the line between fiction and reality lies in this work. But sometimes truth is even a stranger tale than fiction.

Title: Girl in Translation
Author: Jean Kwok
Category: Fiction
Publisher: Riverhead Books, New York 2010
Number of Pages: 303 (paperback edition)