Mary Sui Yee Wong, Not for Sale, 2024, inkjet print on postcard, 10.16 x 15.24 cm. Model: Paul Wong, Photo: Luciana Photography. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, TREASURE II, 2025, chromogenic print on vinyl, 448.08 x 596.96 cm. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Sing Juk Sing, 2008, live performance with single-channel video projection, 60 min. Photo: Jenny Lin. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Well Wishers (detail), 1992, printed acetate, cotton towels, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Bienvenue, 1992, chicken wire, tissue paper, and wax, 82 x 67 cm (each chair). Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Nature Morte (detail), 1999, installation with turf covered objects, dimensions variable. Photo: Paul Litherland. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Sing Juk Sing II (still), 2010, single-channel video with sound, 9:14 min. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Not for Sale, 2024, inkjet print on postcard, 10.16 x 15.24 cm. Model: Paul Wong, Photo: Luciana Photography. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, TREASURE II, 2025, chromogenic print on vinyl, 448.08 x 596.96 cm. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Sing Juk Sing, 2008, live performance with single-channel video projection, 60 min. Photo: Jenny Lin. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Well Wishers (detail), 1992, printed acetate, cotton towels, dimensions variable. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Bienvenue, 1992, chicken wire, tissue paper, and wax, 82 x 67 cm (each chair). Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Nature Morte (detail), 1999, installation with turf covered objects, dimensions variable. Photo: Paul Litherland. Courtesy of the Artist.
Mary Sui Yee Wong, Sing Juk Sing II (still), 2010, single-channel video with sound, 9:14 min. Courtesy of the Artist.
Restless by Nature: Mary Sui Yee Wong, 1990s to the present
Restless by Nature: Mary Sui Yee Wong, 1990s to the present gives audiences a rare opportunity to discover the Montréal-based artist’s under-recognized practice. The exhibition brings together a selection of works, some of which were presented in alternative spaces, on ephemeral platforms, performance-based, or documented insufficiently.
Born in Hong Kong in 1956, Wong immigrated to Canada in 1963, growing up in Vancouver’s Chinatown and moving to Montréal in 1988. Majoring in sculpture, Wong earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1991 and Master of Fine Arts in 2003 from Concordia University, where she currently teaches. Her works were exhibited in Montréal and Vancouver in the 1990s and 2000s, but have been shown less frequently since the 2010s. Wong is known for her activism within Montréal’s Chinese Canadian community, her mentorship of numerous artists of the Asian diaspora, and her active role in Montréal’s artist-run scene during the late 1990s to the mid-2010s.
Reflecting Wong’s varied practice, this survey exhibition showcases sculpture, photographs, video, costume, and a public artwork, and culminates with a new performance-based work. Many of the artworks have been updated or rendered site-specific for Richmond Art Gallery. The exhibition underscores Wong’s engagement with personal memory, cultural history, familial legacy, Orientalism, and anti-Asian sentiment within Canada. Archival materials including exhibition catalogues, magazines, and personal photographs offer insight into her underappreciated artistic practice and labour as mother, mentor, and community advocate.
The artist and Richmond Art Gallery acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for this exhibition.
