Bio

Brubey (Wanzhi) Hu (b. 1994) is an artist, graphic designer, and educator living in Toronto. Brubey works mostly with but not limited to painting and artists ’book, with interests in architecture, dualism, translation, feminism, memory, and colour theory. Originally born in Xiamen China, Brubey moved to Vancouver for high school, and then to Baltimore for undergrad. Brubey’s work has been exhibited in Canada, the US, and China. She hold MFA from the University of Waterloo, and BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) with major in General Fine Arts and concentrations in Graphic Design and Book Arts. In 2018, she participated in BAiR Emerging Visual and Digital Arts Residency at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. In the Artist Project 2019 in Toronto ON, Brubey is one of the finalists of Untapped Emerging Artist Competition. Currently, she sits on board of CAFKA (Contemporary Art in the Public Space).

Artist Statement

My work is an entangled embodiment of the mundane, architectural space, memory, and translation through visual and conceptual lenses of feminism and immigrant experience. With subtraction, the works are transcribed responses to my surroundings, as well as metaphors of consensus and social subjugation.

My transcultural background is determinate of the ambiguity in my works, as I am constantly travelling amongst different pillars of culture diversions. The lack of explicit information is apparent as there are only fundamental shapes in the paintings. The ambiguity speaks to the frustrating state of aphasia that most transnational immigrants endure during the course of accustoming to the unfamiliar environment and culture. The narrative embedded in my work may never be delivered to the viewers from the same entrance I intended. I engage with an implicit and minimalistic approach as a process of reconciliation that grants narrative freedom to the viewers. The imprecision of memories allows capacity for reinterpretation when it has been translated. With delays and inaccuracies, my paintings capture the poetics and imageries from memories produced from the oscillation between reality and imagination, as I revisit distant memory and implement specific architectural elements that often correlate with domestic interactions.

The use of geometric abstractions are translations of quotidian spaces that I interact with, and are allegorical of the fragmentary and dubious quality of memory. Utilizing acrylic paint with tools such as a scraper, taping knife, and foam roller, I seek perfection in making smooth surfaces juxtaposing imperfect marks that cannot be replicated in another work, which reveals my immediate state at the moment of making. The contrast between acute and soft edges often unfolds as a preconceived formal dichotomy of masculinity and femininity. The integration of hard-edged shapes is an attempt to subvert these appropriated formalities. The play with precise edges is an effort to re-contextualize and to complicate the consensual characteristics imbued within the formalities of sharpness and softness. This formality exemplifies the symbiotic relationship between unity and diversity, as well as the reciprocity of multicultural encounters.

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