BIOGRAPHY

Elaine Gan holds a B.A. in Architecture from Wellesley College. Her work has been exhibited at Socrates Sculpture Park, Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Carriage House at Islip Art Museum, and P.S. 122. Her projects have appeared in public environments throughout New York ranging from a pier along the West Side Highway, an alley under the Manhattan Bridge, to water taxis along the Hudson River, with grants and support from Manhattan Community Arts Fund/LMCC, Artists Space/Independent Project Grant, Puffin Foundation Ltd., Bronx Museum/Artist-In-The-Marketplace Program, and d.u.m.b.o. arts center. Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, V Magazine, and Newsday. Born in Manila, Philippines; she lives in New York City.

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Crowd Control, 2005 Located at Sara D. Roosevelt Park, NYC Chrome retractable belt stanchions, public park 3 ft 4 in x area 1200 sq ft Photo credit: Wanda Acosta

INTERVIEW

Name: Elaine Gan           
Where are you from: Manila, Philippines
Where do you live/work: NY, NY
Your website (if any): www.ganstudio.com

How do you normally come up with an idea or project for your artwork? Can you run us briefly through your thought process and work process?

I love information, so raw material comes from all different sources: the “news,” music videos, radio, posters, maps, magazines, flyers, books, books, books. And I walk through public spaces: parks, plazas, piers. Sometimes I start shuffling things around, putting parts together, breaking them down, and inadvertently run into new ways of looking. Other times, the idea hits me as one big bang.

How has this specific site of Lower Manhattan influenced and/or made its way into your works?

Height. Verticality is completely new for me. I usually think and work in relation to horizontal landscapes, lateral movement. My studio is like this incredible perch and I just watch the light and shadows move along Broadway. This visual information will have profound effects—stay tuned!

How has the LMCC Residency affected your work?

It’s given me much-needed time and space to take a critical look at my practice. It’s helped me articulate where I’d like to go over the long term in an increasingly charged socio-political climate. There’s a lot of pressure on artists today to create projects that can be delivered quickly and explained easily. This kind of pressure minimizes the opportunities for fresh discourse, substantial practice. LMCC provides a new venue, a glitch to this market-driven system.

What is your solution to artist’s or writer’s block?

I take a walk, go to a bookstore, or go look at art. Or, for more severe cases, head for some body of water, preferably an ocean—but the Hudson or East River could work too! Basically, I try to stop thinking and let the world in.