On Wednesday 17th February 2010, Pamela So died peacefully at her home in Ayrshire, Scotland. Our deepest condolences go to her husband Jim and her son and Daughter, David and Yunming.
Pamela will be sadly missed by the artistic community, both by the galleries with whom she had exhibited over her successful career and the artists she has shown alongside. Her work in developing engaging projects for both adults and children will also leave a significant void.
Pamela was born of Chinese parents in Glasgow. Her parents had sailed from Hong Kong to Glasgow in 1935 where her father studied medicine. In 1947, the year of her birth, they were one of three Chinese families in Glasgow. Pamela assimilated herself into Scottish culture, but always retained elements of her Chinese heritage. The influence of this dual cultural heritage became a prominent theme within her practice over the years, from investigations into her family history to later works that discussed the effects of colonialism on national identity. Particular bodies of work such as Love is a Many Splendoured Thing – a series of photographs of androgynous dolls recreating intimate relationships that discuss the breakdown of Chinese families as they assimilate themselves into Western Culture, or The Collector’s Garde’, inspired by Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story The Yellow Wallpaper in which Pamela created, from numerous cut out flowers, a meandering installation of blue petals that weaved intricate patterns across the walls of art galleries, highlight the diversity of Pamela’s practice as she shifted comfortably between photography, video, sculpture and installation. The latter being her most well known series after its inclusion in the touring exhibition Paper Cuts.
Chinese Arts Centre’s relationship with Pamela commenced in 2000, when we presented her first solo exhibition, Past Perfect, Present Tense. Since then we have worked with Pamela on numerous occasions, including a Breathe Residency in 2005 and the group exhibition Boutique. As well as being a good friend to Chinese Arts Centre she supported and nurtured the talent of emerging Chinese Artists in Scotland and through Pamela we were introduced to the work of a number of artists. Her commitment, professionalism and good humour will be missed by us all.
Pamela will be sadly missed however, her role as one of the pioneering artists of Chinese descent and her work will leave a lasting legacy and will continue to inspire future generations of artists.
