Local artist Clement Yeh has been working on his exhibition "Drawing on Memory" for the past few months, and it'll be on display for a second time on Canada Day.

(ASHLEY LEGASSIC - REPORTER / iNFOnews.ca)

KAMLOOPS - Who is the one person from your past who has made an impact on your life?

That's the question Kamloops artist Clement Yeh asked over social media, searching for inspiration behind one of his latest art projects.

The question brought forward dozens of submissions from the public — some sent pictures and memories of their grandparents, others shared the story of their lost spouse or child, and some described a childhood friend who made a lasting impact.

"I wanted to create a project that people saw themselves in, so it’s less about my ideas and more about creating a platform for them to tell their story," Yeh says, observing the wall-sized murals that plaster his home art studio. "I like art to be overwhelming, to be immersive, and I think that art should be best viewed in person, so I wanted to create an experience that is best viewed in person, not on a monitor."

The faces in Yeh's mural range from a newborn baby who passed away just a short time after she was born, to an elderly gentleman whose personality shines through his daughter even today.

"I asked people to share with me somebody from their past who made a really positive contribution in their life, and there may be some pain associated with their loss, but I'm trying to uplift the entire community and that has definitely come forward at least from the feedback that I've gotten."

Yeh received more than 60 submissions for this project after posing the question on Facebook, his goal was to reach complete strangers so they could tell a story about their loved ones. Most of the submissions came from people in Kamloops.

Drawing on Memory first exhibited at Arnica Artist Run Centre in Kamloops earlier this month, and will be on display once again on Canada Day at the Art in the Park in the city.

"I have this ideal idea that art can reach a wide variety of society, so I wanted to try and get a nice cross-section," Yeh says. "I think that yes, there's certainly art that alienates people and is harder to get into, but there is a place for most of that, I appreciate all of it, but the work I want to make that attracts me is often something that speaks to a wide variety of people... There are a lot of big unanswerable questions about why we're here, and our carbon footprint, and the way we treat each other is, it’s very concerning, and I hope that art can sometimes remind us that there are beautiful parts of being alive."

Yeh calls himself a perfectionist to a fault, detailing how some drawings didn't work out for him because he just couldn't get them quite right. People who submitted photos and stories put their trust in him and he wants to represent that person the best way he can, without necessarily ever meeting them.

"It’s hard to pick a favourite because there are stories from each one that really kind of struck a chord with me, and as I'm working on each one, I'm staring at the photos and I'm thinking about the words that somebody submitted, and I feel like I'm getting to know that person some way," Yeh says. "The feedback that I've gotten from people is that they feel they've gotten to know a complete stranger and sometimes across eras because some of these people have been gone for a long time."

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