Exhibition: Mother Wound
Mother Wound at Remote Gallery 2024
Location: Remote Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Date: October 24 - November 2, 2024
Lotus Che’s first solo exhibition, Mother Wound, invites us into a world where art becomes a bridge between the seen and unseen, the conscious and unconscious, transmuted into a profound artistic experience.
Through a wide range of media – charcoal, paint, ink, textile, and clay — Che constructs spiritual mindscapes that delve into the shadow self confronting life’s most complex challenges — trauma, death, healing, and rebirth.
In Mother Wound, Che’s work is thoughtfully arranged to reflect the introspective nature of their practice. The exhibition showcases a diverse body of work, while acting as a mystical healing journey for the artist. Che’s arrangement penetrates the layers of stored emotions and intergenerational trauma that they seek to repair through their art. By engaging with the Jungian concept of the shadow self, that is, the repressed unconscious mind, which Carl Jung considered an ubiquitous human characteristic, Che’s art becomes a link between the individual and the universal.
The work stands as a testament to resilience and journey towards self-actualization. It addresses oppression, violence, loss, and the struggle for spiritual and generational healing — while also maintaining a touch of humor and childlike playfulness. This blend of the raw and the light-hearted invites viewers into a space that is somehow both comforting and confronting.
In addressing universal themes such as identity, memory, gender, motherhood, invisible labor, feminism, sexuality, family and power dynamics, Che’s work offers an unfiltered exploration of the psyche. An intimate look at eroticism, vulnerability and relationships is omnipresent. Their art is grounded in self-realization, and is a manifestation of their inner world. It’s an act of self-love, an attempt to embrace all aspects of themselves, including the darkest parts that society often compels us to repress.
Che’s art emerges from the docile submission of their past filled with violence, oppression, and various forms of abuse. Their works confront that past through powerful strokes, evoking a palpable tension. Bold lines give form to the formless, fighting back with a force that finds grounding in the present. Their drawings and paintings often focus on the human figure yet blur the line between abstraction and representation. The work conveys an intensity that may, at times, overwhelm, with expression that summons not only pain but joy as well. The imagery within Che’s work prompts the question: is this the sound of ecstasy, or a cry for help?
There is little colour — just the striking contrast of black and white, occasionally punctuated by a hint of bare skin. This stark duality serves as a metaphor for the polarities we all share — life and death, love and hate, strength and vulnerability, often both at once, occupying the same space.
In Mother Wound, Che’s own dance between light and dark manifests a transformative process that mirrors the act of giving birth, an experience that is both cathartic and healing. It is a spiritual metamorphosis that is akin to an exorcism, where the act of creation becomes an act of release. She is at once a creator of life, and a maker of death. Che’s latest series of clay vessels exemplifies this theme, as metaphors for the disembodiment felt during traumatic events. These vessels are not just empty forms; they are representations of the mother, constantly emptying herself for others, and through this work, Che asserts, "This work is me filling my cup." The vessels are placed within the gallery as holding containers for the energies and emotions that may arise and flow throughout the space.
While it is nearly impossible to fully experience another’s pain, joy, or any emotion, art holds the power to bridge that gap. Deeply vulnerable, Che’s work extends a hand to the viewer, not to draw them into darkness, but to make space for and heal shared darkness together. The invitation is offered to confront shadow parts, to find strength in vulnerability, and to engage in a shared process of healing.
Che’s creative process is marked by an introspective reality, a personal journey that is as much about self-discovery as it is about artistic expression. Their installations, composed of paintings, drawings, sculptures, and textiles, are schematic invitations to self-contemplation and, ultimately, self-actualization. Through their art, they challenge the viewer to move beyond societal constraints of shame, guilt, and fear, and to explore their whole self, allowing even the darkest parts to emerge into the light.
In Mother Wound, Che presents a series of over 180 individual works forming a transient, fluid whole. This exhibition is not just a collection of artworks but an unfolding story of the human condition. It is brutally honest, vulnerable, and emotive — a powerful statement of self-actualization and spiritual metamorphosis.
Curated by Lotus Che & Yuluo Anita Wei. Text by Vai Jong-Hunken. Presented in partnership with SSEW Project, Trastienda Machete, 202AM & Peggy.
Copyright © Lotus Che, Inc. 2025. All rights reserved.