Theodore Sasketche Wan

Theodore Sasketche Wan (1953 – 1987) was an artist and photographer who is known for his series of medical and surgical-style photographs that served as both instructional illustrations and conceptualist interventions. Wan emigrated from Hong Kong, at the age of thirteen with his family, to Vancouver, Canada. Wan studied photography under Fred Herzog in the Department of Fine Arts Studio program at the University Of British Columbia, where he received his BFA in 1975. Wan received his MFA at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University in 1978. During his time at NSCAD, Wan became a photographer at the Dalhousie University’s School of Dentistry where he accessed the hospital facilities for his photo-conceptualist work. Wan returned to Vancouver after finishing his MFA, where he founded the artist-run centre Main Exit and was a commercial photographer until his death in 1987. Wan’s oeuvre and archive are in the collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery and his work has been shown in such institutions as the Dalhousie Art Gallery in Halifax, the Blackwood Gallery in Mississauga, the Art Gallery of Alberta, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery at the University of Toronto, the Badischer Kunstverein in Karlsruhe etc.