Review: Diyan Achjadi and Cindy Mochizuki at the Roedde House Museum, Vancouver, September 25 to November 18, 2018 by Joni Low

I'm super excited to be part of How Far Do You Travel?, produced by the Contemporary Art Gallery in partnership with Translink. More information soon!

Public art works that cannot only be seen but also heard or tasted are coming to Vancouver.

The six artist-initiated projects reflect the diversity of contemporary artistic practices in Metro Vancouver, according to Eric Fredericksen, City of Vancouver’s public art program manager.

By Kevin Griffin
The Vancouver Sun December 20, 2017

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"Diyan Achjadi: Achjadi will be making a series of handmade prints to contrast with the digital images of advertising posters found on construction hoarding. At the end of the project, she’ll produce a book or portfolio of the series"
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Shawn Hunt and Diyan Achjadi are just two of the artists spreading more than pretty colours across the historic building

By Alexander Varty
The Georgia Straight August 29, 2017

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“I always like to think of pictures, in general, as portals to another world,” she adds. “I like making pictures because I like the way that they share the space of fiction, where anything can happen. You can make propositions that might be absolutely impossible, but yet kind of live as a proposition, and maybe spark a thought towards the possibility.…That’s something I always consider in making my work.”

In creating her piece for the Façade Festival, Achjadi has also considered its site, although not so much its history as its architectural qualities. “Its neoclassical form is deemed to be the epitome of colonial European structures that sort of demonstrate a particular type of power, and so I wanted to work in a visual language that was the opposite of that visual language,” she says. Consequently, she’s working with fanciful images of clouds and islands, influenced by Indonesian textile design and thus evoking “women’s work”, as opposed to the patriarchal justice system.
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My upcoming exhibition, Cultural Conflation, has been highlighted in the Fall Arts Preview for Vancouver:

www.straight.com/arts/782786/fall-arts-… The Georgia Straight: Fall arts preview 2016 visual arts critics' picks: Hybrids emerge from spaces in between|

vancouversun.com/entertainment/local-ar… The Vancouver Sun: Fall Arts Preview: Local art works part of global and historical conversation|

Open Studio Gallery
401 Richmond Street West
Suite 104
Toronto, Ontario

Opening Reception: September 16th, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Exhibition on view September 16 - October 15 2016

Residue: Tracing the Lore, a collaboration between Brendan Tang and Diyan Achjadi, explores the ways that ornamental motifs can reveal or reflect histories of migration. Through imprinting fragments of images onto their own skin, as well as those of close relatives, this project asks how familial lore and traditions are transmitted, and the residues that they leave upon us.

The process of the making the imprint is intimate and fleeting: a tile is chosen, then strapped on to the body. When the strap is loosened and the tile removed revealing the image, the body immediately readjusts and the skin begins to regain its original shape. The imprints are ephemeral and in flux, lasting mere minutes. They are documented before the pattern loses its crispness. The resulting photographs focus closely on the embossed skin and its imperfections: hair, pores and moles intermingling ornamental fragments.

The works in Residue reflect multiple transferences of imagery, from drawing to object to print to photograph. A series of relief tiles are translated from sketches into 3D-printed tiles that are then blind embossed into skin. The resulting impression is documented through photography, and digitally printed onto paper. Through exploration of these processes, Residue: Tracing The Lore is an investigation into the language of printmaking’s material possibilities, as well as its function as a means for the transference of ideas and images.

Residue: Tracing the Lore at Open Studio Gallery, Toronto

Two of my prints included in the Bienal Douro international printmaking exhibition in Douro, Portugal, August 10 - October 31, 2016

Bienal Douro

photo by Paul Litherland

Upcoming exhibitions Summer and Fall 2016

PATTERN MIGRATION: DIYAN ACHJADI, SOHEILA ESFAHANI, SANAZ MAZINANI
Art Gallery of Mississauga

July 14, 2016 - September 11, 2016
Opening Reception: July 14, 6 pm
Curator: Kendra Ainsworth

Throughout history ceramic objects decorated with patterns have traveled the world. Moved by mechanisms of trade, colonialism and migration, they serve as portable markers and transmitters of cultural information. Three artists take these objects and their ornamentation as a starting point, creating works that act as emblems of migration, cultural exchange and hybridization.

RESIDUE: TRACING THE LORE (collaborative project with Brendan Tang)
Open Studio

Toronto, Ontario
September 16 - October 15, 2016
Opening: Friday September 16, 2016

More information and images from the Residue series

CULTURAL CONFLATION: DIYAN ACHJADI AND SHAWN HUNT
Richmond Art Gallery

October 15, 2016 - January 3, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, October 14, 2016
Curator: Nan Capogna

Vancouver artists Diyan Achjadi and Shawn Hunt explore art forms that have been appropriated by other cultures, often resulting in a conflation of both. Achjadi’s prints and multi-media works reference to 18th- and 19th-century porcelain paintings and textile designs, medieval bestiaries, chinoiserie motifs, Javanese batik patterns, and fragments from Dutch maps have been combined to create grisaille prints and colourful collages. Meticulously made and dense with iconographic components, the resulting works bring together a myriad of cultural elements to create a new reality. Shawn Hunt’s sculptural works draw from western art history and combine with traditional Northwest Coast carved forms. The forms, carved by Hunt or procured from his father, Bradley Hunt and brother, Dean, also a carver, include components such as rattles, spoons, model totem poles, canoes and masks. Hunt’s new constructions and Achjadi’s drawings and prints provide a rich fusion of cultures that call forward complex and sometimes contentious histories.

Solo exhibition of drawings, prints and animations opening at Centre Montreal, Arts Interculturel (MAI) this Thursday! It's the first outing for most of these works, and I am excited to see it all together in this space.

Exhibition is up until December 12, 2015
Centre MAI

Brendan Lee Satish Tang & Diyan Achjadi
Residue: Tracing the Lore

September 11 to October 11, 2015

Malaspina Printmakers Gallery

FabPac!, a collaborative piece made in dialogue with Glen Lowry, is in this month's issue of the Capilano Review: Pacific Poetries

FabPac!
Glen Lowry

Both paper and electronic ssues can be purchased here

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Prints from the series Venationes, produced at the Frans Masereel Centre in 2014, are included in the Bieniale Internationale D'Estampe Contemporaine.
Exhibition is up June 21- September 6, 2015

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Faire de Histoire at Centre Vox

Honored to be included in GIV le 40e curated by Petunia Alves and Anne Golden:

"We rely upon artists. They are the backbone and foundation of GIV. Artist-producers formed GIV 40 years ago. Artists have always directed the centre. We determined that it was only natural to express our long, complex and varied history through artists/videos that have been or are associated with GIV. The videos in our collection travel the world. They are the reflection of shifting technologies and affinities. We are currently one of a handful of centres worldwide that focus on works created by women artists.

"Currently, GIV represents 330 artists and 1,260 videos. The works in GIV le 40e represent a snapshot of our collection and history. There are 40 videos organized chronologically by date of production representing specific periods of GIV’s history. These works reflect the diversity of practices, themes and technologies in video art history. A variety of archival material (posters, catalogues, photographs) are added to the selection of videos.

"In this exhibition are glimmers of a video past, ghostly images generated by obsolete cameras, recorders and editing devices. In this exhibition are echoes of a video present, a heady mix of both old and new technologies at the service of inventive artists. As for a video future, the medium has been declared dead on more than one occasion. And yet here we stand, poised for the next 40 years.

"GIV le 40e is the first of a series of events scheduled in 2015 celebrating this important anniversary."

You can see a snippet of the video here

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|http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2014/12/29/zap-pow-snap-wonderwomen-katherine-nash-gallery|Zap! Pow! Snap! "WonderWomen" at the Katherine Nash Gallery By Terri Peterson Smith
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"Wonder Women" Shows Off Minnesota Female Artists in Comics and Pop Culture: An exhibition featuring women artists in comics and pop culture who opened up the old boys’ club—for good
by Quinton Skinner

"Wonder Women" Shows Off Minnesota Female Artists in Comics and Pop Culture
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Part of the Wonder Women On Screen series, this collection of short films, curated by the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, showcases some of the most innovative work by women artists and filmmakers.

Wonder Women: Nash Gallery Shorts
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I'm excited to be part of Wonder Women, an exhibition at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery of work by women artists inspired or influenced by comics, animation or popular culture, and related screenings of work by women filmmakers presented by the Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul.

List of artists in the exhibition:
Diyan Achjadi, Alison Bechdel, Dara Birnbaum, Carolina Borja, Nina Braun, Jennifer Camper, Deedee Cheriel, Sally Cruikshank, Jennifer Cruté, Disorientalism (Katherine Behar, Marianne M. Kim), Mary Doodles, Cheri Gaulke, Michela Griffo, Nicole Houff, Anna Hrachovec, Mari Inukai, Maya Kern, Sivan Kidron. Pelin Kirca, Barbara Kruger, Hyein Lee, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Paola Luciani, Lupi McGinty, Stephanie McMillan, Leah Moreno, Jackie Ormes, Rebecca Parham, Sara Pocock, Barbara Porwit, Samantha Rei, Trina Robbins, Betye Saar, Jenny Schmid, Barbara Schulz, Rena Simon-Igra, Ema Smoluchowski, Jen Sorensen, Meni Tzima, Amandine Urruty, The Waitresses (Jerri Allyn, Anne Gauldin)
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I'm honoured to have Merapi on the cover of Wayde Compton's new collection of short stories, The Outer Harbour.

More information on the book here.

The Outer Harbour will be launched at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch on October 19th
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Honored to be included in the CRAM International - CT-International Print Biennale at Galeria Luz y oficios in Havana, Cuba, February 15 - March 15, 2013
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Overflow included in Animation Automation, curated by Liz MacDougall, at the Centre for Art Tapes in Halifax, NS
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Camouflagehead included in the J'Act / I Act programme at the Edgy Women Festival, curated by Eugénie Cliche
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Sign Off and Fanfare included in Me Love You Long Time at Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art in Newark, NJ. Curated by Edwin Ramoran.
February 16 - April 14, 2012
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The Further Adventures of Girl goes to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
July 15, 2011 - October 16, 2011
Curated by Nicole Stanbridge
The LAB Gallery

Opening on July 14th 2011; Artist talk and animation screening on September 15, 2011

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
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Here is There is Here, a series of four prints, is up at the Aberdeen Canada Line Station
A public art project for the City of Richmond

No 3 Road Columns Press Release
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Here is There is Here is a series of four drawings currently on display at Aberdeen Canada Line Station as part of the No. 3 Road Columns /Richmond Public Art. It will be up until October 2011.

No. 3 Road Columns

New Art Columns at Canada Line Stations

Girl in the City, my first public art project, is now screening at the video screens on the North East corner of Granville and Robson.

The four short animations, featuring Girl as she traverses Vancouver and interacts with various city landmarks, are interspersed with the regular programming of the screen, and will be shown throughout the day.

The project was commissioned by the City of Vancouver Public Art with the support of Vancouver 125 and the participation of the Government of Canada.
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February 12 - March 12, 2011
The Further Adventures of Girl

at the Definitely Superior Gallery. Artist talk and opening tonight, February 12 2011 at 7pm.
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Kamloops Art Gallery
October 18 to December 31, 2010
Co-curators, Craig Willms and Annette Hurtig

The Construction Sites: Identity and Place exhibition presents works by contemporary artists who investigate and reflect on the social construction of identity and the production of social space. Made over the past several decades, the works in the exhibition respond to developments in feminist, gender, queer and postcolonial theories. The exhibition concept takes a cue from Henri Lefebvre’s thinking about alienation and modernity, the nature of society, and social revolution as a revolution in everyday life. In his writing Lefebrve speaks about producing one’s life as one would a work. Might we likewise produce our own identity? Or is identity determined by society? And, with the dramatic mobility of information, goods and people aimed for by corporate globalization strategies, what is the relationship between our identity and the places we inhabit?

Construction Sites Exhibition Tours
Conducted by co-curators Annette Hurtig and Craig Willms
Thursday, October 28
7:00 to 8:30 pm
Saturday, November 6
1:00 to 2:30 pm

Join Annette Hurtig and Craig Willms for a guided tour of the Construction Sites exhibition. The treatment of identity and place in works by artists such as Diyan Achjadi, Rebecca Belmore, Allyson Clay, Andy Fabo, Jim Logan, Ken Lum, Al McWilliams, Nan Duc Nguyen, Sharon Yuen, Jin-me Yoon and Tania Willard will be analyzed and discussed.

Kamloops Art Gallery
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Centre A's exhibition, The Dig, includes the banner See Girl Look (digital print on silk, 2004). See it before it's put in storage again, eth show ends on September 25, 2010.


|http://www.centrea.org/|Centre A
2 West Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6B 1G6

Check out the e-catalog here
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Honored that the Kamloops Art Gallery now has my work in their permanent collection!

Kamloops Art Gallery
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only 24 hours left to bid... A small version of Duck and Cover is included in this auction. Lots of great prints, photos, and other works available, with only a 200$ reserve.

Auction website

Daniel Cooney Gallery

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Sweet and Sexy Sugar Bombs
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In conversation with Valerie Walker on the XXFiles at CKUT Montreal - 90.3 FM -

mp3 of the interview
CKUT
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A brief mention of the work in Sugar Bombs in Verb News
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March 6 – April 10, 2010
Opening Saturday, March 6, 2010, at 5 pm,
preceded by a guided visit and discussion with the artist at 4:30 pm

Under the veil of a candy aesthetic, The Further Adventures of Girl by Diyan Achjadi
conceals a tacit violence. The artist questions the role of popular culture in the
construction of national identities, and releases a worrisome program from a cauldron
of acidulated colors.

Oboro
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Listen to me talk about printmaking, being an artist, teaching, and not making money from my work

Mendelog Podcast
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Sugar Bombs: Diyan Achjadi and Brendan Tang is on view at the Mendel Gallery in Saskatoon, SK until April 5, 2010

Mendel Art Gallery
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Check out Front Magazine's Winter 2009 Issue -- Merapi on the cover and an interview with me inside
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