Snack Witch Joni Cheung
September 5th – 30th, 2024
Soba’s Corner is a video installation that unpacks distinct Chinese-Canadian dishes from specific provinces. Posted on YouTube and disguised as a typical how-to cooking show, another conversation and narrative are hidden in the Canadian English closed captions and the “recipe” linked in the description box.
Food, like art, is not neutral. Looking at cuisines as windows through which to study perceptions of tradition and authenticity, Cheung draws viewers in with humour and the familiar, to confront the uncomfortable histories embedded in the everyday.
About the Artist
🔮 Snack Witch Joni Cheung 🍡is a grateful, uninvited guest born—and knows she wants to die—on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm, Skwxwú7mesh, Stó:lō, and Səl̓ ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh peoples. They are a Certified Sculpture Witch with an MFA from Concordia University (2023). She holds a BFA with Distinction in Visual Art (2018) from the School for the Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University. As a wicked #magicalgirl ✨who eats art and makes snacks, she has exhibited and curated shows, off- and online, across Turtle Island. Currently, they are based on the stolen lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka peoples.
They are a recipient of numerous awards, including the Individual Arts Grants—Visual Artists: British Columbia Arts Council; Research and Creation Grant: Canada Council for the Arts; and the Dale and Nick Tedeschi Studio Arts Fellowship.
Aside from art-making, Joni likes wandering down grocery store aisles and drinking bubble tea.
About Factory Media Centre
Factory Media Centre is Hamilton’s not-for-profit artist-driven resource centre for film, video, new media, installation, sound art, and other multimedia art forms. Our mission is to develop and support a vibrant, sustainable, creative, and diverse community of Members and non-Members within Hamilton and its surrounding region.