Preschool Educational Guide

Created by Muriel Farmer

GRADE/SUBJECT: Preschool

 

LESSON TITLE: Identity, Diversity and Representation – Who is represented and included/ excluded in Canada’s history and heritage?

LESSON DESCRIPTION

In this preschool educational guide, children will interact with the artworks of Lan Florence Yee (they/he) and Ness Lee (she/they). They will look closely at the forms, textures, and shapes in the artwork. There are two art activities: Colour a Body and Make a Buddy. Through these hands-on art activities, they will also explore colour to describe emotions. They will also have the opportunity to interpret Lee's artwork through colour.

 

Either in-person or through the virtual exhibition, please locate the soft sculptures. Find Ness Lee’s artworks titled, we have together: sitting and we have together: reclining, and Lan Florence Yee’s artwork titled, Stuffed Kitsch.

Introduction

Land Acknowledgment

If visiting in-person, before students, teachers, educators, and visitors explore Elusive Desires: Ness Lee and Lan Florence Yee, please conduct a land acknowledgment in order to recognize the rightful Indigenous stewards of the land upon which you are situated. Please refer to Native Land to identify the traditional territories, languages, and treaties that are associated with your context.

 

Take a moment to think about the land you are standing on, including the lakes, water, shorelines, mountains, hills, forests, etc. In accordance with Indigenous protocol, it is important to build respectful relationships between Indigenous nations and non-Indigenous people. Think about the land where the art gallery is built on. We recognize this land; Canada was taken from the Indigenous communities and nations. It is important to recognize the cultures, ceremonies, and traditions of the local Indigenous communities. We are thankful for the sharing of the land, and we would like to honour the treaties that had been broken.

 

Exhibition Description

Elusive Desires traces the intimacies and (be)longings of two artists of Chinese descent, Ness Lee and Lan Florence Yee, that are obscured by dominant heteropatriarchal imaginaries in Canada. The artists' desires, as embodied through illustration, painting, installation, embroidery, and sculpture, visualize the politics of difference in terms of gender, sexuality, and race, but do so in seductive and sometimes, ironic ways. For Ness Lee and Lan Florence Yee, (be)longing is elusive, but from the periphery, these two artists unabashedly assert their presence and power through art

(Marissa Largo, Curator).

 

Present: About the Artists

Ness Lee (they/she) draws upon history and personal narratives to create tender and surreal illustrations, paintings, sculptures, and installations. Exploring states of mind during intimate stages of vulnerability, Lee’s work takes form as an effort in seeking comfort, forgiveness, and desire for an end of a self-perpetuated state. Based in Toronto, their work has been featured at the AGO, the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, the Gardiner Museum, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, as well as galleries in New York, Boston, Los Angeles, MIami, Montreal and Toronto. Lee has also participated in mural festivals in Canada and Internationally in Hyderabad, India and Cozumel, Mexico. They have a BDes in Illustration from OCAD U.

Lan Florence Yee (they/he) is a visual artist and recovering workaholic based in Tkaronto/Toronto and Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. Their practice uses text-based art, sculpture, and textile installation through the intimacy of doubt. Their work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art (2021), the Art Gallery of Ontario (2020), the Textile Museum of Canada (2020), and the Gardiner Museum (2019), among others. Along with Arezu Salamzadeh, they have co-founded the Chinatown Biennial in 2020, and were formally part of Tea Base. They obtained a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from OCAD U.

Please Touch!

Feel free to touch the sculptures. It is encouraged that children engage with the artworks such as hugging the large bodies and exploring the textures of the soft materials. The artists are interested in interactive art ideas. They want to challenge traditional "do not touch" spaces to "please touch" experiences to encourage visitor engagement with art.

 

Look closely at the faces and the facial expressions shown in the artwork. Try to recreate the faces and explain the emotion. Is it a sad face, happy face, or a frowny face? Ask:

  • How do we feel when we are with someone?

  • How do we feel when we are all alone?

 

Questions

A few questions to encourage looking closely at the soft sculptures:

 

  • What do you think the characters are thinking and feeling?

  • Do you think they feel sad or alone? Why or why not?

  • When you see someone who is sad and alone, what do you say to them?

  • What would you do to cheer them up? Do you think a hug could help?

 

Look at their body shapes, describe how many arms, legs, heads, and other shapes they

have on the artwork body?

 

  • What do you think they use their body parts for? What do you think they can do? Do you

  • think you can do special movements?

  • Is there something you think they would need help with? Do you think they can bake cookies or decorate cupcakes?

  • Do you think you can help them? How would you help them?

 

Exploring the Body

Look carefully at the poses that the bodies make. Look at how they take up space.

 

Are they standing, flying, swimming, laying down? Look at the rest of the body.

What are their body parts doing? What do you think they use their body parts for? (hugging,

sitting, waving, playing, etc).

 

Now it is time to move your body! It is your turn to move your body and to be inspired by the sculptures. Have children be close to the sculptures. If in-person, ensure that they are at a safe distance from the artwork because they will need space to move around. Recreate the poses from the sculptures to the best of your ability. Then try another pose! How would you move your body to make yourself more comfortable?

  • Are you standing or lying on the floor?

  • Where are your hands and legs?

  • Do you feel comfortable in this pose?

  • How do you feel when you are in the pose?

Challenge!

Are you up for a challenge? Instead of looking at the poses in the sculptures, we will look closely at the different shapes in the bodies of the sculptures. Look for different shapes in the body. Do you see any large circles?

 

Try to recreate the shapes you see in the sculpture with your body. For example, if you see a circle shape in Yee’s Stuffed Kitsch try to use your full body to make the shape of a circle. (Hint, start standing up, bend over towards the floor and use your hands to touch your feet. Bend your back slightly down and don’t forget to bend your knees). If standing and finding your balance is too tricky. You can sit on the floor and have your hands touch your toes/knees and slightly turn your head down. Now, you have completed a full body circle.