Lem, Brenda Joy
Brenda Joy Lem is a third generation Chinese Canadian visual artist based in Toronto, Ontario. Her mother, Kathleen Lem (née Yip), was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan but was educated in China. When Japan invaded China, Kathleen and her sisters fled their village, moving from one Christian Mission to another in search of refuge. The young women were displaced for thirteen years before they were reunited with family in Canada after the war. Kathleen then married William Lem of Toronto, Ontario and the couple settled in Etobicoke, Ontario. Brenda values the Chinese cultural practices and traditions her mother taught her, some of which she has passed on to her own daughter, Una. On her father’s side, Brenda admires the life of her late grandmother Jean Chin and aunt Margaret Lem. The artist explores her aunt’s memories of growing up Chinese Canadian in Oshawa in several recent works included in the traveling exhibition, Brenda Joy Lem: Homage to the Heart. Drawing from archival photographs, cultural imagery, and the oral histories of her family members, Brenda’s prints and mixed media works explore notions of identity, memory, and place.
‘But she had a lot of hardship too and when she told me her childhood stories I kind of thought, 'Oh, I can kind of see like a little bit like why she had guard dogs and guns and stuff like that.'
In this audio clip, Brenda Joy Lem reflects on her aunt Margaret Lem’s life, referring to her 2008 artwork, Every Woman Should Have a Gun. Brenda says that even though Margaret led a very glamourous life, she later revealed certain traumatic events that may have shaped her outlook. Margaret also told Brenda that, growing up, she was always trying to prove to her father that she was as valuable as her brothers.
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