Biography

My-Van Dam is a multidisciplinary artist based in Tiohtiá:ke/Montreal. She is also the regular programming and technical coordinator at La Centrale galerie Powerhouse and a graduate of the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in visual and media arts. Dam is also a founding member of the CODE BLANC collective, along with artist Stanley Février and Maryam Izadifar, examining the place of racialized artists in cultural institutions in Quebec and Canada. My-Van Dam has participated in several group exhibitions, such as the Patrick Mikhail Gallery, at Place-des-Arts in Montreal, at the Musée d’art Actuel/Département des invisibles (MAADI), at the Cuisine ta Ville festival organized by Art Passe à L’Action (ATSA) and at the ArtHelix gallery located in New York.

Approach and works on display

My-Van Dam’s artistic practice is concerned with the transmission of intergenerational trauma, memory, vulnerability, resilience and healing process. She is particularly interested in the consequences of traumatic events on our collective and individual memory, as well as the impact of trauma on our physical and psychological well-being, interpersonal relationships and identity. His creative process is a reflection based on the materialization of psychological states and identity issues resulting from this inner confrontation, motivated by psychological legacies. Dam explores materiality through a variety of mediums and techniques ranging from painting to photography, installation, sculpture and video. In addition, she challenges the audience on their own terms to question and reflect on these issues, summoning courage and inner peace.

We are all essential / Nous sommes tous.tes essentiels.elles (2021)

The We are all essential project is a collection of stories from health care professionals, Covid19 survivors and bereaved family members, and social justice activists. The health crisis has highlighted our need for and interdependence on mutual support and connection. Indeed, it has challenged what we define as essential and has allowed us to question the notion of community and mutual aid within our system. For this project, the public is invited to write a word, a sentence, a text, and/or a poem that illustrates their emotional states and their thoughts on these themes. People are then invited to hang their writing on the installation and, through this gesture, activate the work through their participation. By gathering these testimonies, the artist wishes to create a collective memory by putting together individual memories related to the events of the pandemic. Thus, his intention is to highlight the necessity and urgency of rethinking our structure in order to reinforce the idea of collectivity and inclusiveness by putting forward the history of these people.

Works by the artist