Hear from artist Kathryn Tsui and writer Grace Lai on the occasion of Tsui’s exhibition and publication cloud ribbon.

Together Kathryn and Grace will discuss the influence of Chinese visual and material culture in cloud ribbon along with their research for the publication and shared fascination with the remarkable work and life of potter Wailin Elliott.

Get your $10 ticket to attend this morning talk with a coffee & croissant in hand.

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Kathryn Tsui 徐敏貞 (Tsui Mun Jing) is a textile-based artist who works primarily in loom weaving and beading, and currently lives in Tairua, Te Tara-o-te-Ika-a-Māui Coromandel Peninsula. An ongoing thread in her practice is a focus on mass-produced objects and common patterns where Asian material culture has intersected with other traditions and influences. The result is a dialogue between notions of value and embedded sociocultural hierarchies. Tsui’s work is held in the public art collections of The Dowse Art Museum, The University of Waikato Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato and Tūhura Otago Museum. She also works as an arts programmer and was one of the organisers of the first Chinese New Zealand Artists Hui in 2013. Tsui holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Auckland University of Technology Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau (2007).

Guided by curiosity, writer Grace Lai 黎思婉 (Li Siwan) is an art historian and curator interested in uncovering stories held by objects overlooked or dismissed by history. Positioning material culture as a decoder of the immaterial, her research seeks to untangle the complex web of connections, histories and social structures inherited by objects in the hope of addressing issues that remain relevant not only to museums and their collections but also to society today. Lai has published extensively on contemporary craft, with a focus on studio glass, jewellery, textiles and surface design. Lai is the Curator of Applied Arts and Design at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, where she leads the exhibition, development and research of a nationally significant archive of craft from Aotearoa New Zealand and abroad.

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Coffee & Croissants is a conversation series supported by our friends at Allpress Espresso and Daily Bread.