Mao and Chris
Artists in Residence: Sept 15 - October 31, 2025
ABOUT MAO AND CHRIS
Mao and Chris met while completing their Masters of Fine Arts Degrees at the University of Calgary in 2017. The artists and life partners began collaborating in their home studio in Calgary in 2020, shortly thereafter creating the collaborative studio Mao and Chris. Combining different cultural backgrounds, Mao being born and raised in China and Chris having grown up on the west coast of Canada, the artists look to create works that reflect upon their individual and shared perspectives. They have attended residencies together in Canada and have exhibited collaborative works within Canada, the US and Asia.
During their residency at KOAC, Mao and Chris developed new mosaic sculptures that repurposed flawed ceramics from their functional ceramics studio—pieces that would typically be discarded due to minor imperfections or firing issues. By transforming these fragments into sculptural works, they explore themes of repair, transformation, and the overlooked beauty in brokenness.
This project reflects Mao and Chris's commitment to sustainability and their ongoing interest in reimagining material narratives. Drawing inspiration from the KOAC site — its textures, natural rhythms, and sculptural landscape, Mao and Chris plan integrated their inspirations from the site into both form and composition. The mosaic process, with its emphasis on assembling disparate parts into a cohesive whole, resonates deeply with their collaborative practice and their lived experiences as artists from different cultural backgrounds.
Through this process, Mao and Chris explored cross-cultural narratives embedded in the fragments—each carrying traces of their studio, their hands, and their heritage—while responding to the land and its history. The resulting sculptures meditated on resilience, memory, and the power of things once deemed flawed or forgotten.
Find out more about Mao and Chris on their website.
