Burnaby artist explores themes of migration and environment–with plastic

Red, white, and blue bags woven from plastic fibres have been an important part of Hong Kong culture since at least the 1960s. The bags, also known as “moving bags,” were commonly used by people moving or migrating from one place to another. 

The bags have captured the imagination of Burnaby artist Cheryl Wong, who decided to create a woven tapestry from the red, white, and blue bags for her capstone project at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Wong graduated from Emily Carr in 2023 and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in architecture. She is nowadays preoccupied with themes of migration, workers’ invisibility, and plastic’s impact on the environment.

Wong moved from Hong Kong to Canada with her family in 2009. In 2018, when she was just 16 years old, she started working at the City of Burnaby as a swimming instructor and lifeguard. She told the Beacon that her work helped her contribute to her tuition and expenses, especially when she started university. 

Wong said the red, white, and blue nylon bags are an important symbol of the journeys of many people who have crossed borders, moved continents, and relocated somewhere new. The bags are also tough, weather-resistant, and durable. 

“I decided to use the pattern to communicate the density of the city, the vibrance of the city, and taking advantage of the bag having a symbolic idea relating to migration and carrying goods, to weave a story,” Wong said.  

During a summer 2024 visit to Hong Kong, Wong became interested in the new infrastructure projects being built throughout the city. 

“I was very interested in all these megastructures built within the city, specifically the West Kowloon station,” Wong said. “I was amazed by the really big columns and really big roofs, but that also allows me to think about the construction behind it, the labour that goes behind it, the dynamic between the architect, or the ‘starchitect’ in relation to the construction worker who’s actually building the space.”

This has all culminated in Wong’s recent work, in which she uses the materials mined from the nylon moving bags to create a new form that combines her artistic expression and architectural training. 

“The new piece, the 2024 version, will be a series of three, and it’s going to be a collage style, using the red, white, and blue bag with architectural drawing expressions that are common in our practice,” she said.  

Her creative process begins with contemplating her previous work, ideas and themes, which she visualizes using analogue materials. She examines her past work through a critical lens and asks herself how her perspectives have changed in the meantime. Wong prefers working with her hands using traditional art materials.

“Instead of using the actual red, white, and blue bags, I actually scanned them and started exploring. What if I started cutting them up? That inspired me to make a collage. And then, taking a pen again and just doodling on the piece, that also led me to think about, oh, what if I put some architectural expression within the piece to help emphasize the ideas,” she said of her process in creating the new pieces for the exhibition. 

Wong said her work as a swimming instructor does not relate directly to her creative practice, but it has taught her critical skills that she incorporates into her creative work. Working directly with people of all ages and abilities has taught her to empathize with various perspectives. One of her instructors at architecture school taught her that empathy is an essential skill for an architect.

“He was about to retire, and one of the very last things he said to us was that you can walk out of architecture school not mastering anything, or you don’t have to be the best designer in the world, but you have to make sure you design with empathy,” she said.  

Wong’s work will be on display at Richmond Art Gallery from Jan. 18 to March 23, 2025, as part of an exhibition titled Dear Plastic. According to a press release, the exhibition is “a thought-provoking look at how plastics have become an inescapable part of our everyday reality. Each artist engages with different types of found or ready-made plastics in ways that prompt us to critically reflect on our irreversible enmeshment with plastic.” 

In addition to her work using the red, white, and blue bags, Wong will design the exhibition’s title walls using materials recycled from the gallery’s past exhibitions.

This piece was made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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