Chinatown, Vancouver
$100
18" x 24"
At its peak, Chinatown was the epicentre for Vancouver's Chinese community. Families came for dim sum, grocers filled the sidewalks with crates of bok choy and lychee, and roast ducks and bbq pork hung from butcher windows. The crowds are thinner now, but parts of the old neighbourhood still remain — you just have to know where to look.
Emily Huang
As an urban planner, Emily Huang shapes how cities evolve. As an artist, she captures what change leaves behind. Using watercolour and gouache, her paintings preserve the familiar facades that quietly define a neighbourhood.
“Familiar signs and facades I could paint from memory.”
“Most weekends growing up, my mom drove me there to study Mandarin at the cultural centre. We’d always stop by a bakery for something sweet, a quiet ritual before heading home. I’ve seen how the area is changing, with old and new pressing up against each other. I wanted to focus on what endures: the storefronts, signs and facades I could paint from memory.”
