Kamloops artist Brendan Tang is excited about bringing a few selections of his latest exhibition ‘Manga Ormolu,” to the Southern Alberta Art Gallery storefront window this week.
Tang, who is trained in pottery, incorporates modern items like robot arms, toys and ginseng bottles with traditional Ming style vase creations.
“The original idea stems from an eighteenth century tradition in which they would incorporate gold into them. Conceptually, that’s what I’m doing except I’m replacing the gold with modern science fiction references,” Tang said, setting up his display for the grand opening , March 13 during which he and Danish artist Nanna Debois Buhl will be speaking about their respective displays at the SAAG at 7 p.m. during the opening reception.
“I use a potter’s wheel to make these. It’s all very traditional with a modern twist,” Tang continued adding it takes approximately a month of work to complete each piece. He does a lot of research into his pieces by reading and watching a lot of science fiction and Japanese animé for inspiration.
“It’s extremely labour intensive,” he said adding this series of work includes 30 pieces, some of which are on display at the Mendel Museum in Saskatoon and several other Canadian museums.
The exhibit runs until  April 25 at the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, however the opening reception is at 7 p.m., March 13  to get a chance to meet the artists.