Bio

Winnie Chan is a Toronto-based artist with a deep fascination for history, art, and curation. She explores themes of ancient, decaying objects that resonate with memories, capturing stories of the past in her work. Inspired by artists like Ryoko Kui, Yuan Xing Liang, and Pannaphan Yodmanee, Winnie finds creative fuel in the media around her, weaving a sense of lost stories into her art.

Artist Statement

Welcome Home reconstructs the front entry of my childhood home in China, exploring memory, impermanence, and the ways spaces hold traces of lived experience. A tapestry painting of the door stands in place of the original, its woven fibers capturing both the permanence of an image and the fragility of fabric—an object that can be folded, stretched, and eventually frayed. The absence of a physical door leaves only an impression, evoking the tension between presence and loss, familiarity and distance.

A wooden step, slightly elevated, invites viewers to step onto the threshold, echoing the familiar act of crossing into a home. This simple action transforms the audience from passive observers into participants, evoking the bodily experience of returning to a place both known and distant. Three potted plants, each symbolizing myself, my mother, and my grandmother, can be rearranged by the audience, allowing for an ongoing reshaping of the space. Their movement reflects the shifting dynamics of family, migration, and the way home is never static but constantly redefined through relationships, distance, and time.

The impermanence of these materials makes every interaction a form of transformation—what remains is not the untouched surface but the traces left behind: the dust, dirt, and scrapes. By allowing the audience to move objects, step onto the threshold, and witness material decay, Welcome Home becomes an evolving record of touch, impermanence, and remembrance. The work suggests that home is not a fixed place but a living entity shaped by time, movement, and the ephemeral marks we leave behind.