STRATUS Issue 03: Pacific
AUGUST 1–17, 2024
FEATURed photographers
Eric Cheung
Simone Chnarakis
Jeremy Jude Lee
Sebastian Palencia
PRETTY BOYS, Select work from Pretty Boys: Jeremy Jude Lee, art direction/photography; Megan Kwan, art direction/production; Esther Joh, casting/production'; Ciara Kosai, production assist; Jacky Huang, styling/wardrobe; James, Jason, Xin, Long Xi, cast
exhibition Statement by Stratus Team
Welcome to PACIFIC, an exhibition uncovering the layered relationship between Vancouver and its Pacific coastline. This year’s exhibit features an array of artistic expressions, from prints on transparent acetate to interactive installations, each exploring the profound dichotomies that define Vancouver.
The transparent acetate prints capture the reflections and fluidity of water, symbolizing the dynamic interplay between the natural world and urban life. These works allow you to peer through the lens of the ocean, revealing the dual nature of Vancouver—its clarity and complexity, its light and shadow. The transparent elements echo the city’s own contradictions, where nature and culture coexist, intertwine, and sometimes clash.
Our sandbox installation invites you to engage directly with this theme. Featuring an acrylic sheet you can draw on, with sand beneath it, this installation illustrates the delicate balance between human intervention and natural landscapes. As you draw, the lines you create on the acrylic sheet symbolize the human imprint on Vancouver’s coast—impermanent, yet impactful, and always in conversation with the sea.
The exhibition revolves around guiding thematic questions that invite you to reflect on your own experiences and perceptions of Vancouver:
- Is your Vancouver driven by natural experience or by cultural handprint?
- Is your Vancouver vast and complex or personal and intimate?
- Is your Vancouver a warm memory or a gritty reality?
- Is your Vancouver anonymous or identifiable?
These questions frame the artists’ works, which celebrate the beauty and complexity of coastal life while confronting the tensions and contrasts inherent in a city shaped by both the ocean and human activity.
PACIFIC challenges us to contemplate our role within this unique environment. Through their interpretations, the artists propose ways to harmonize the natural and cultural elements of Vancouver, envisioning a community where all forms of life thrive together.
Please walk around and enjoy.
FEATURED
UNCONVENTIONAL DISPLAYS OF FAMILIAR EMOTIONS
SEBASTIAN PALENCIA, photography
ERIC CHEUNG, dancer
SEBASTIAN PALENCIA is a multidisciplinary photographer and designer. ERIC CHEUNG is a multifaceted artist rooted in contemporary and street dance. Both hail from Calgary where they first met in Grade 7, but currently reside in Vancouver.
Their collaborations such as Iyeism (2021) and “EOM” (2023) seek to challenge viewers by using unconventional platters to present familiar emotions. Combining technology with traditional art mediums, Eric and Sebastian recontextualize our understanding ofvisual media through integrative projects employing motion-tracking, AI and VR.
WURLD2000K
SIMONE CHNARAKIS, photography
Whether it’s connecting with her blackness or simply feeling good about yourself, Simone believes photography is a powerful exercise in awareness of one’s own identity.
“Everyone has a right to have a cool photo of themselves. You shouldn’t have to look a certain way or dress a certain way, or be with an agency. It’s really rewarding when people tell you, I felt really good after that. That’s a win. That’s the best because you’re changing the way that they think about themselves.”
PRETTY BOYS
Select work from Pretty Boys
Jeremy Jude Lee, art direction/photography
Megan Kwan, art direction/production
Esther Joh, casting/production
Ciara Kosai, production assist
Jacky Huang, styling/wardrobe
James, Jason, Xin, Long Xi, cast
Captured in Vancouver during the summer of 2022, “Pretty Boys” is a series of imagery and media that follows the friendship of four youngmen. The series is an exercise in self-portraiture,
using dreamlike imagery to challenge perceptions of Asian stereotypes and masculinity through the tenderness of friendship — representing narratives of leisure,
joy, and light heartedness.
Paying homage to Hong Kong cinema (Wong Kar Wai) and Western coming of age narratives, "Pretty Boys" expresses and connects Asian-Canadian stories with the broader community by drawing parallels to both of these perspectives.
They say that Vancouver is a city that never plays itself in film; this work aims to document the city authentically through the lens and memories of first/second/third generation immigrants. "Pretty Boys" contemplates how the city has molded Asian-Canadians, and also how they have influenced this place they call home.
*This project was created in collaboration with the arts collective "Super Sensitive Studios".
Jeremy Jude Lee is a photographer and artist currently based in Vancouver, splitting his time between Los Angeles and New York. Jeremy’s work focuses on photographic narratives that explore themes of Asian Canadian identity, inspired by cinema, nostalgia and memory.
Community
alphabetically
Jordan Ackimenko
Simon Benzon
Adrianna Chong
Bridgette Crabbe
James Ha
Connor Howell
Jonny Hughes
Michael Keeting
Leo Malong
Kasun Medagedara Lex Milo
Paul Nguyen
Erem Ozdemir
Helena Plain
Monet Shimura
Jenna Silverstone
Preston Szeto
Mathew Thomson
Darren Tran
Lena Vvedenskaya
Anita Yuen
01: Jenna Silverstone 02: Adrianna Chong 03: Bridgette Crabbe 04: Connor Howell 05: Darren Tran
07- Erem Ozdemir 13: Helena Plain
15: Jonny Hughes 16: Jordan Ackimenko 17: Lena Vvedenskaya 18: Leo Malong
20: Mathew Thomson 21: Michael Keeting 22: Monet Shimura 25: Paul Nguyen
26: Preston Szeto 27: Simon Benzon Lex Milo
James Ha
Anita Yuen
Kasun Medagedara
