Artist Talk with Christian Vistan

Credit: 'a lot of it happened under my grandma's mango tree' (2017). Installation view. Photography by Mika Agari.

CHRISTIAN VISTAN is an artist from the peninsular province Bataan, Philippines, living on unceded xwməθk wəy əm (Mu squeam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl íl wət aʔ/Selilwitulh (Ts leil-Waututh) territories. In their artworks, they translate experiences of distance and diaspora into hybrid forms that fold together elements of memory, place, poetry, and abstraction. They are particularly interested in thinking about and working with water as a material in their painting and in personal, familial, and migrant histories. They make paintings and texts, organize exhibitions and publications, and often collaborate with other artists, writers, curators, and their relatives. Recent projects include ‘Rice Cooker’ (2023), a site specific performance and collaboration with Kiyoshi Whitley at Boombox, Vancouver; and ‘dreams comma delta’ (2020-23), a room and DIY gallery space for artist projects and exhibitions that was located inside their family home in Ladner, BC and that they ran and co-curated with Aubin Soonhwan Kwon.