Artist Statement
I work in soft sculpture, textile installation, and performance, blending fantasy with campy, queer opulence. My performances stage imaginative rituals that turn mundane routines into spectacle, exploring harm reduction, endurance, and gender fluidity.
The textile pieces themselves are screen-printed, sewn, and sculpted. They function like modular toys, built to move between wearable armor and installation. I draw upon the Japanese folklore, magical girl anime, and mecha robots of my childhood.
Bio
Chanel Matsunami Govreau (they/she) is an artist, photographer and educator based in Brooklyn, NY. They have exhibited at the Pao Arts Center, Boston, MA; Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience, Seattle, WA; FiveMyles, Brooklyn, NY; SOMArts Cultural Center, San Francisco, CA; Chashama, New York, NY; FLXST Gallery, Chicago, IL; and Holding House, Detroit, MI.
As an educator, Matsunami Govreau has over a decade of experience teaching photography and digital storytelling to young people. They’ve worked with arts organizations such as the Black School, YouthCan Seattle, The House of Ninja, and No Longer Empty. They are also the co-founder of Unblended, a workshop series on intersectional solidarity in Black and Asian friendships. In 2022 they were an inaugural recipient of the Bandung Residency for Black and Asian Solidarity and has since served as a mentor for this program.
As a lecturer and facilitator, they’ve presented workshops on interracial solidarity, queer Asian diasporic experience, and folkloric fantasy. They have given artist talks and workshops at institutions such as Duke University, Durham NC; Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA; Courtauld Institute of Art, London, UK; Parsons School of Design, New York, NY; and College for Creative Studies, Detroit, MI.
Their work has appeared in publications such as Milk Papers, The Observer, Bitch Magazine and Juxtapoz.
Matsunami Govreau received their BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2011 where they studied performance, printmaking and Asian American Studies.
