Tangerine, After Grapefruit is a series of nine hand-embroidered prompts on linen and canvas that monumentalize the tenderness and uncertainty in ordinary acts of connection between people, place, and the distance between them.
The front and back of each large-scale embroidered piece will then be photographed and printed as booklets for the public to take home. (They are hand-bound with the same navy blue thread that forms the text on the large-scale works.)
This series references the event scores of Fluxus artist Yoko Ono’s 1964 publication ‘Grapefruit.’ Part homage and part contemporary re-imagining, Lan’s renditions reflect a shared sense of absurdity in everyday life, especially during the pandemic isolation. These textual fragments are inspired by counter-archives, which intervene into the standard forms of documentation and commemoration, to imagine alternative ways of reproducing images and affect. This ongoing project seeks to develop a playful look into the materiality of text and (re)presentation.
The first embroidered prompt in the series read: “EXCHANGE PIECE / Peel a tangerine. Eat the fruit while thinking of a loved one. Send them the leftover peels. Summer 2020.” At the onset of the pandemic, when contact most felt dangerous, Lan and artist & collaborator Arezu Salamzadeh shipped small packages of clay to their family and friends with instructions to wrap it around a fruit and peel the clay. Receiving these back in the mail, each press and fold held in the earthen material acted as a vicarious touch that could be shared during isolating times.
Much of this work was made possible with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.
'Tangerine, After Grapefruit'
installation view at Artspace, Peterborough at night, March-May 2025. Solo exhibition ‘Just Short of Everything’
Installation of canvas and ‘Please Help Yourself’, glazed ceramic, a collaboration with Arezu Salamzadeh. 2019-2022
Tangerine, After Grapefruit
installation view at Artspace, Peterborough, March-May 2025. Solo exhibition ‘Just Short of Everything’
Tangerine, After Grapefruit (installation)
work in progress
RESOLUTION PIECE
hand-embroidered linen on copper rod, 5” x 5”, work in progress
photo by Jordan Dawson
MEMORY PIECE
Hand-embroidered linen on copper pipes, 5’ x 5’, 2022 (work in progress)
Please Help Yourself
collaboration with Arezu Salamzadeh, glazed ceramic, work in progress
EXCHANGE PIECE
Installation of spruce wood rough frames within a group exhibition called ‘The Traces That Remain’ curated by eunice bélidor at Montreal, Arts Interculturels (MAI), 2024.
PIECE TO SAFELY LOOK BACKWARDS
Installation of spruce wood rough frames within a group exhibition called ‘The Traces That Remain’ curated by eunice bélidor at Montreal, Arts Interculturels (MAI), 2024.
NAME PIECE II
hand-embroidered linen on copper rods, 5’ x 5’, 2022. Photo by Alison Postma
EXCHANGE PIECE
hand-embroidered linen on copper rods, 5’ x 5’, 2022. Photo by Alison Postma
DISAPPOINTMENT PIECE
hand-embroidered linen on copper rods, 5’ x 5’, 2022. Photo by Alison Postma
installation at Alliance Francaise Toronto, 2023
Photo by Alison Postma
Linen stack with ceramic tangerines, 12” x 6” x 36”. Photo by Alison Postma
Linen stack with ceramic tangerines, 12” x 6” x 36”. Photo by Alison Postma
Photo by Alison Postma
COMMITMENT PIECE
hand-embroidered linen on copper rods, 5’ x 5’, 2022. Sold
RESISTANCE PIECE
hand-embroidered linen on copper rods, 5’ x 5’, 2022. SOLD
The embroidered linen was photographed and printed back into the book format that inspired this project.
Printed with Teh People Studio
