33 SOUVENIRS by Anny Chen

33 SOUVENIRS from my dad's Chinese art collection. The house I grew up in was a strange museum of avoidance, and one filled with a hoard of dangerous, tempting and forbidden objects. I'm no art historian, but he asked me to catalog it and I've been (mis)translating them into photos, pillows, ceramics, and these paintings without his permission. 

Anne Chen is a Taiwanese-American artist based in Michigan. Her work endeavors to bring into the light the ancient histories and false narratives woven into objects. Her research explores how physical artifacts, whether stolen through colonization or having migrated in someone’s suitcase, carry unspoken values that can only be revealed through context, density of environment, and the attention of the interpreter.