OTHER ARTWORK
SVETLANA - 2024
Oil paint on canvas board, framed in an antique wooden frame
Exhibited at UPLIFT, the Wet Paint Collective’s March 2024 group show at the Balmain Watch House
Svetlana is a Russian model who sat for a three-day workshop in portrait painting from life at Hamley Studio of Fine Art, Hornsby. This portrait was painted under the instruction of Sally and Ben Ryan. Svetlana, we will always have Шапокляк.
Ben Ryan of Hamley Studio has also answered my five creative questions; his answers are available here.
LOOK CLOSER- 2024
Acrylic paint on wooden offcut, framed in restored moulded plastic
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Exhibited at 2024 Sydney Royal Easter Show
This miniature painting draws inspiration from the lover’s eye jewellery of Victorian England. It is influenced by ornate Gothic decorating styles – both in its framing and in its slightly unsettling effect. It is made entirely out of unwanted materials – a small wooden offcut and a broken frame that was painstakingly resprayed and restored.
THE NEOCLASSICAL SERIES - 2024
Top Row: STILL HERE, IMPERFECT and STRENGTH
Second Row: BLAMELESS and STOIC
Mixed media on cradled wood panels
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Exhibited at ONWARD, the Wet Paint Collective’s March 2024 show at Art Gallery on Darling
This series nods to the enduring beauty of classical sculpture, rendered with a modernist sensibility with structured planes to carve out a three-dimensional effect while placing them tone-on-tone on a solid-coloured background. The series is about feminine archetypes and how we can find their traits within ourselves.
The five paintings in the series are:
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STILL HERE, featuring Diana the Huntress, who represents perseverance and self-reliance.
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IMPERFECT, featuring a Naiad, a kind of water nymph. The text and title refer to the perfect imperfections that live within us all, even those who meet beauty standards.
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STRENGTH, featuring Hebe, the goddess of eternal youth. The title and text refer to the strength I see in femininity.
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STOIC, featuring Saint Margaret, who defeated a dragon that tried to consume her and is the patron saint of childbirth. We must all defeat the dragons that try to consume us.
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BLAMELESS, featuring Eve. The text and title refer to how much the world loves to blame women for all sorts of things. but curiousity and defiance are not sins.
GRACE AND THE LITTLE BIRD - 2023
Acrylic paint on wooden board
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Exhibited at UPLIFT, the Wet Paint Collective’s March 2024 show at the Balmain Watch House
Based on a real photograph taken by a friend, a young girl cradles a bird found struggling by the side of the road on a hot day. It symbolises the need to show care to the vulnerable and reminds us that children carry the future in their soft, gentle hands.
FEAR IS PROTECTION - 2021
Acrylic paint on wooden board
Exhibited at the Wet Paint Collective’s March 2023 group show at the Balmain Watch House
What if our biggest fears keep our nightmares away? Krasue, Grumpy Ghosts, Stitch Bear, Anonymous Rabbit, Slender Woman and Bound Mermaid, my original characters, all represent healing and protection despite how strange and frightening the world can be.
A TABLE FOR THREE GENERATIONS - 2022
Acrylic paint on wooden board
Exhibited at the Wet Paint Collective’s March 2023 group show at the Balmain Watch House
To tell the story of my grandmother, my mother and myself through food, I have set an imaginary table with foods linked to memories and identity. There is a pathway from traditional to modern; from pungent fruits to trendy cafe fare.
My grandmother, Suwan Engkaninan, represents tradition – foods that are beautiful because they have been beloved through time. I associate her with fried mackerels for breakfast; and reeking durians and fragrant lychees. The tong yip, a vivid yellow dessert, is a syrupy delight we eat in memory of her, it was her favourite.
My mother, with her ‘90s chic hair and her oversized glasses, shows me the ingenuity of migrants who must make a new life for themselves as strangers in a strange land. Udomsri Low (nee Engkaninan), made a life for herself in Australia after moving here in her late teens. The gai yang (Thai roast chicken) is a crowd-pleaser. Usually served with som tum, for a lack of green papaya, she adapted hers with grated carrot. The middle panel pays tribute to the flavours of her homeland and her adaptation to Aussie life.
I am the future – convenience food, confectionery in plastic instead of fish on banana leaves. I am first-generation Australian-born. The avocado on toast is the iconic, ruinous breakfast of my generation. The flat white celebrates coffee culture and my love of a good brew. The Vegemite and Caramello are treats I both enjoy and have provided to friends around the world to give them a taste of my culture. That way, the journey continues.
HOLY - after William-Adolphe Bouguereau - 2023
Acrylic paint on wooden board
Exhibited at the Wet Paint Collective’s March 2023 group show at the Balmain Watch House
This painting is based on Bouguereau's painting The Abduction of Psyche (1895). It shows the "sickly sweet" romance of Cupid and Psyche. Intended as a lovecore artwork for a Valentine's Day art trade, the recipient chose the word 'holy' from a list. All very fitting as the lovers are ascending to heaven to be married.
ASK ME ABOUT MY BAND - 2023
Acrylic, spray paint and rub-on lettering on wooden board
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Exhibited at the Wet Paint Collective’s August 2023 group show at the Balmain Watch House
If – as some people believe – the Devil is responsible for rock ‘n’ roll music, then he’s behind some pretty iconic bands. Featuring my original characters: Grumpy Ghosts, Anonymous Rabbit and Stitch Bear.
WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE ASIAN MERMAIDS? - 2021
Fired glazes on a supplied handcrafted ramen bowl
Exhibited at Art the Plate, Shinmachi, Newtown
Is a mermaid a mirror for the idealised dream of a woman? If so, why is she so often blonde or a redhead? As an adult, I bought several gothic dolls, all with long black hair because I finally felt I could see myself represented. My mermaid is Asian because it has taken me most of my life to see my own hair as aspirational. She pours the elixir of youth - which Asian women are rumoured to possess - from her world to ours.
RICHARD'S ROOM - 2021
Acrylic paint on wooden board
The ‘Richard’ in question is my partner and in this dream-like room, there are nods to all the things he loves (except me, I suppose): star-gazing, Art Deco, reading, Kobe the Pomeranian, chess-playing, cake-eating and more.
ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER - 2021
Acrylic paint on wooden board
My mother is two kinds of big cat: a Leo, born in the Year of the Tiger. My sister and I shelter close to her, a rat and an ox respectively. The mountains are those of Canberra, where she made her home, but the river represents the one she swam in while growing up in Thailand. Other nods to her Thai identity include the orchid and durian. Each fruit and flower represents some facet of her - for instance, the hibiscus represents my father, the man she loved.
View featured artwork here