Arts & Expression, East Asian, Visual Art

She graduated from the Ontario College of Art in 1970, specializing in interior design. In 1981, she attended the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta. She also has a degree in Biology.

She has curated exhibitions at the York Quay Centre at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, including “Moving Stories” in 2007 and “4 Souls 2 Worlds” in 2005. She designed and installed exhibitions—”Jean-Pierre Larocque” in 2006 and “Clay Portraits: Gertraud Mohwald” in 2007—for Toronto’s Gardiner Museum. In 2007, she designed the set for “Necessary Velocity,” a dance work by choreographer Michelle Silagy of Toronto’s Winchester Street Theatre.

In 2004, she embarked on a Canada Council Paris studio residency. Between 2005 and 2008, she presented at the Banff Centre and the University of Lethbridge, both in Alberta, the Bergen National Academy of Art & Design in Norway and at a textile symposium in Harrogate, England.

Kai is the winner of the 2002 Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in the Crafts and the Jean A. Chalmers National Crafts Award for 1998. She has been awarded several Ontario Arts Council and the Canada Council grants since 1985, including an Ontario Arts Council Crafts Grant in 2008.

Her works are included in several public collections including: Museum London (London, Ontario); Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan); Musée des Arts Decoratifs de Montréal (Montréal, Québec); The Canadian Museum of Civilization (Hull, Québec); The Library and Gallery (Cambridge, Ontario); and Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum (Trondheim, Norway).

Kai’s solo exhibitions include:
( * indicates catalogue )

2008 | Mirage, Laio Collection, Philadelphia

2007 | To Please the Eye, David Kaye Gallery, Toronto

2007 | From Sea to See, Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery, Waterloo, Ontario

2006 | Apparition, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Alberta

2006 | Added Pleasure, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2006 | From Sea to Shore – Travel Notes, Galerie Elena Lee, Montréal, Québec

2006 | A Traveller’s Night Vision, Keyano Art Gallery, Fort McMurray, Alberta

2004 | A Walk In The Wildness, Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto, Ontario

2003 | In Four Winds, Primary Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

2003 | Buddha’s Eyes, an installation at Canada Quay, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario

2002–2003 | Prix Saidye Bronfman Award 2002, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec

2001–2003 | Rainbow Lakes, Art Gallery of Mississauga, Mississauga, Ontario, touring to Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery (Halifax, Nova Scotia); Tom Thomson Memorial Art Gallery (Owen Sound, Ontario); Museum London (London, Ontario); Art Gallery of Peterborough (Peterborough, Ontario); Southern Alberta Art Gallery (Lethbridge, Alberta); Illingworth Kerr Gallery (Calgary, Alberta); and the Art Gallery of Sudbury, Ontario.*

2000 | Can You See Me Now, Prime Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

1999 | Against Nature, Galerie Elena Lee, Montréal, Québec

1999 | To the East, To the West, York Quay Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario

1998 | Pomegranates, Prime Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

1996 | In Search of Paradise, The Library & Gallery, Cambridge, Ontario*

1993 | To Catch the Invisible, Prime Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

1993 | New Work , Galerie Trois Points, Montréal, Québec

1989 | Amsterdam-Toronto, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1989 | Solo, Galerie Trois Points, Montréal, Québec

1987 | Kai Chan – New Work, The Craft Gallery, Ontario Crafts Council, Toronto, Ontario

1986 | Solo, White Water Gallery, North Bay, Ontario

1985 | Uitagave Museum Het Kruithuis, ŒS-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

1985 | Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1973, 1975-1976 | Merton Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

Her group exhibitions include:

2007 | “A Vital Mix”, Ontario Crafts Council, Toronto, Ontario

2007 | “Re-Collect”, York Quay Centre, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario

2006 | 1001 Rings, New Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

2006 | Radiant, 30 Years Ra, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam and Stedelijk Museum Roermond, Netherlands*

2005 | Loose Ends, Liane and Danny Taran Gallery, Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, Montréal, Québec

2004 | Manifesta: Vision & Mastery in Contemporary Craft, Gallery Stratford, Stratford, Ontario

2004 | Paper/Scissors/Stone, Gendai Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

2003 | Between Line & Form, Ottawa Art Gallery, Ottawa, Ontario

2001 | The 10th International Triennial of Tapestry Lodz 2001, Poland

2000 | Walk in the Woods, Burlington Art Centre, Burlington, Ontario

1997 | Common space, International Art Exhibition, Pezinok, Slovakia*

1997 | Between Sense and Place, The Winchester Gallery, University of Southampton, England*

1996 | 20 Years Ra, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands*

1995 | 8th International Triennial of Tapestry, Lodz, Poland*

1994 | Contemporary Canadian Artists, University Art Gallery, Central Michigan University, Michigan

1993 | Within the Shadow of the Sun, York Quay Gallery, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, Ontario

1993 | In Our Hands, Gallery Maronie, Kyoto, Japan*

1992 | A Treasury of Canadian Craft, The Canadian Craft Museum, Vancouver, British Columbia*

1991 | The Banquet Table, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands*

1987 | Schmuck-Zeichen am Koroper, Francisco Carolinum, Linz, Austria*

1987 | Beyond the Object, Saskatchewan Craft Council, toured Canada*

1986 | 10 Years Ra, Galerie Ra, Amsterdam, Netherlands*

1985 | 12th International Biennial of Tapestry, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Art, Lausanne, Switzerland, toured in Scandinavia*

1984 | Art by Design, Canada House, London, England; toured the United Kingdom*

1984 | Contemporary Jewellery – The Americans, Australia, Europe and Japan, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan*

1982 | Jewellery Redefined, the 1st International Exhibition of Multi-media Non-Precious Jewellery, 1982, British Crafts Centre, London, England*

1982 | Canada Mikrokosma: An Exhibition of Contemporary Canadian Tapestries, Barbican Centre for Arts and Conferences, London, and toured to: Palacio de Cristal, Madrid; Textilmuseum, Krefeld; Nordjyllands Kunstmusem, Copenhagen and in Canada*

1973 | Textile into 3-D, Extension Services of Art Gallery of Ontario, toured Ontario*

1972 | Make, Ontario Science Centre, Toronto, Ontario*