Neighbours, West Vancouver Art Museum, 2025
Curatorial Text By Xianjun Song
Interweaving between Suzhou to Vancouver
Suzhou, a city founded in 514 BCE, is renowned for its UNESCO World Heritage gardens, ancient canals, and the legacy of silk and textile artistry. Vancouver’s iconic Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is a perfect replica of a Suzhou garden—stands as an epitome of Suzhou’s cultural legacy.
The tradition of textile art runs deep in the veins of Suzhou women.
Xiangmei Su’s artistry is deeply connected to the textile traditions of her hometown. For generations, weaving has been an essential part of her family’s heritage. In Xiangmei’s hands, it evolves from a livelihood to a profound artistic expression. Immigration is never an easy journey for anyone. Xiangmei Su has experienced the challenges and complexities of immigration first-hand—the cultural shocks, the sense of displacement, and the long-term search for belonging in a new community. From her early years as an art student at the University of British Columbia to her evolution as an independent artist, Xiangmei has never stopped struggling to find balance between two cultures.
Having lived in Vancouver for over 20 years, her work reflects the personal challenges and triumphs of immigration—navigating the spaces between two cultures, seeking balance, and ultimately finding her voice. In her early Interweave series, she meticulously examines the intersections of diverse cultures with distinct lines of longitude and latitude. Over time, her work has evolved to transcend boundaries, dissolving them to create seamless integrations of elements. With thread as her artistic tool, it not only binds cultures but also reveals her personal journey of inner exploration.
Finding the Gateway
For this exhibition, Xiangmei presents Gateway, a site-specific installation featuring 4,400 traditional Suzhou liusu—silk tassels in vibrant colours—woven into five maps, each representing different geographical spaces reflecting her two-decade journey as an immigrant navigating between homes and cultures.
The initial door symbolizes Greater Vancouver, where her aspirations took root. The second door guides viewers to West Vancouver on the North Shore, where she eventually settled after many years. The third door leads back to Suzhou, her place of origin. The fourth door represents a circular cave gate in a Suzhou garden, also known as the Moon Gate, symbolizing unity, while the fifth is the octagonal gate, representing expansion in all directions, beckoning the viewers to step into a future with new possibilities.