On her website, Toronto artist Av Wu says that she likes to transport viewers out of their current reality. Her stated goal is to help them “experience a feeling of bliss for a moment in time”.
It’s an apt description for her Lunar New Year design, which will be displayed on a large lantern until February 16 at the Varley Art Gallery of Markham. Wu has depicted a yellow snake propelling itself through a colourful garden. Her work will stand alongside five other LunarFest GTA artistic lanterns (see below) in the courtyard to welcome the Year of the Snake.
Wu tells the Toronto Spark over Zoom that she wants to counter perceptions of snakes as vicious reptilian creatures.
“I like how graceful they are and how ethereal they are,” Wu says. “So, I was portraying the snake in a way that highlights its beauty.”
She adds that the lantern’s muted colours exude an “airiness”, conveying a lighter feeling. However, Wu also added more vibrant accents, such as the orange-reddish flower near the bottom, for contrast. She did this in an understated way to avoid overwhelming the piece with really bright colours.
“I usually work off a specific colour palette and then that kind of inspires the rest of my work,” Wu explains. “I do love drawing snakes.”
For Wu, it’s a bit of a homecoming for her work to be exhibited at the Varley Art Gallery. That’s because she took art classes there as a child.
Wu’s family is from Kuching, the largest city in Sarawak in northwestern Borneo. She was three years old when she moved to Canada, so she doesn’t recall Lunar New Year in Malaysia. But her parents have told that celebrants would set off firecrackers in the streets.
Wu helps build brands
Even though Wu was raised in Canada, she feels that the Malaysian dyeing technique known as batik has influenced her artistic practice. Batik practitioners create outlines of shapes—which Wu has incorporated into some of her designs—before applying hot wax to a textile.
“Whenever I used to visit Malaysia as a kid, I would often do batik work,” she says. “My parents exposed that to me pretty early.”
Her dad was an architect and artist. So, she was raised in a home that valued creativity. However Wu chose to study biomedical sciences and biology in university, thinking that she might become a dentist. But she retained an interest in art and in 2019, she opened AV WU Design Studio.
Over the years, Wu estimates that she’s created 15 to 20 murals. They include a large floral design on the wall of Starbucks on Wellington Street West in Toronto, the Evolve mural for the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022, and a tigress mural in Victoria, B.C.
“I like to insert creativity into everything that I do,” says Wu. “And so that includes experimenting with new mediums or different mediums.”
She has also designed packaging for various products. One recent example is Tim Hortons Infusr energy beverages.
“I really celebrated that because I grew up eating a lot of food from Tim Hortons,” Wu reveals. “To be able to work with that brand was really cool.”
Branding excites her because it not only includes a visual representation, it also captures a feeling. To Wu, branding really entails storytelling across many different platforms.
“I always consider the emotions that a specific audience feels when they interact with a brand,” Wu emphsizes. “It’s also about the values that a brand really stands for. I think that allows a lot of consumers or customers to really buy into a brand and become loyal to a brand.”
Event details
The Arts for Canadians Tomorrow Society, Asian-Canadian Special Events Association, and Varley Art Gallery of Markham will co-present LunarFest GTA. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday (February 1) and Sunday (February 2) at the Varley Art Gallery (216 Main Street Unionville) and McKay Art Centre (197 Main Street Unionville). All events are free. For more information, visit the LunarFest GTA website. The lanterns will remain on display in the Courtyard until February 16.
Learn more about the communities that make up Canada on the Toronto Spark website. Follow Charlie Smith on Bluesky @charliesmithvcr.bsky.social. The Toronto Spark is also on Bluesky @torontospark.bsky.social.
