Gerard Choy

Arts & Expression, Southeast Asian, Visual Art

He is a sculptor working in various media. Born in Singapore, Choy graduated from NSCAD with a bachelor's degree of Fine Arts in 1999, and became a permanent resident of Canada in 2000. In 2003, he received a Canada Council Creation Grant and in 2007, the Nova Scotia Arts and Cultural Partnership Council Award.

His works have been shown at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery; Saint Mary's University Art Gallery; Art Gallery of Nova Scotia; Real Art Ways, Hartford, Connecticut; ARTsPLACE, Annapolis Royal; Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton; and Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa. His works are in private collection as well as in the Canada Council Art Bank, Nova Scotia Art Bank and Saint Mary's University Art Gallery. Choy is presently in London, United Kingdom, pursuing his master's degree in Transnational Art.

Synopsis of Take Out One Ton

Medium: Han Baiyu Chinese Marble, 114 elements, 13.4 x 12 x 14.5 cm.

Take Out One Ton considers the effects of transliteration and translation and questions the creation and imposition of meanings and identity.

This work consists of 114 forms cut out of a one-ton block of Chinese architectural grade marble. The shape references the generic takeout container that has become the iconic symbol of Chinese takeout worldwide, a symbol that is unknown to the stone cutters in Shanghai, China.

Synopsis of One Ton of Won Ton Bowls

Medium: Concrete, Chroma Key Blue. 279 elements, each 23 cm dia. x 8.9 cm

One Ton of Won Ton Bowls investigates the notion of an object that refers to but does not reproduce or represent its source. It considers the trajectories of the objects and how meanings and values are carried over or lost in translations.

This work is a multiple cast of a bowl whose design and use became simplified and generalised over time. The surface treatment embraces Chinese cobalt glazes, Yves Klein IKB, Anish Kapoor and the Chroma Key pigment of blue screens that creates the empty space onto which something can be projected.

Synopsis of Royal Classic

Medium: Bronze, Wood and Felt. Box size 23.5 x 40 x 8 cm. Bronze cast - live size

I suspect that 'Royal Classic' comes out of questions around shifts. It questions how we negotiate cultural displacement, context and expectations. Do we need to? Is it simply a part of the trajectory, a consequence of movement?