In Between Worlds: an Interview with Tong Zhou Lafrance

Tong Zhou Lafrance, 童宙, is a Chinese-born multidisciplinary artist. She was adopted from Anhui, China in 1999 and is currently based between Tiohtià:ke/Montreal and Quebec City, Canada. Her current visual research focuses on the different methods of display enabling the transportability of intimate belongings from one location to another.

Mariana Morales: What defines you in three words?

Tong Zhou Lafrance: I found these three nice words: colourful, sincere, and healing-driven which are really what drives me in my practice so, I find these words are right for myself.

M.M: How would you describe your art?

T.Z.L: I think I would describe my art as evolving, full of try and errors, stimulating, and engaging. Since I started focusing on drawing and subsequently, joining the academic environment, I changed somehow my practice because, in a way, I have a hard time to express what and how I draw. It was too emotionally difficult for me to explain each one of my drawings in an academic environment. Especially since the subject that I often address in my art — the transnational adoption of Chinese children — is extremely personal. So, I had to explore several mediums to find a middle ground. That’s why my art shifted towards the conceptual and more fabrics and textile oriented.

Now, my art is thoroughly instinctive, raw, and full of emotions! It’s a balance between the academic world and a profoundly emotional self-expression which allows me to talk about the/my past in a more observative manner.

M.M: What are your plans for the years to come?

T.Z.L: I plan to study at the International College of the China Academy of Arts in Hangzhou, China. For one year, I’ll do a Certificate of Chinese Language and Culture and for three years a Master in Fibre Art in the Sculpture department. I must wait for the opening of the Chinese borders to begin my project of contacting Chinese Adoptee in multidisciplinary arts. Personally, I find that my current issue about learning my transnational roots is that the Chinese visual culture does not fit my own reality nor in Quebec City nor in Montreal. Thus, I look forward to reaching to other transnational Adoptee from China interested to collaborate on different projects. As I am both interested in learning the Chinese language and the culture, I find it important to share it in a more approachable way, in a way that is meaningful for Chinese Adoptee overseas.

This interview was conducted in English on July 2nd, 2021, via Zoom.