Today in My Life - Intermission, commissioned time-lapse video project
Commissioned by ScreenWest, Western Australia
Video screened on 19 June 2020, Yagen Square, Boorloo.
The video, "Today in My Life - Intermission," commissioned by ScreenWest (WA), was screened on June 19, 2020, in Yagan Square, Boorloo (Perth), during the COVID-19 pandemic. This time-lapse video featured Mah and West Australian artist Harrison See. Both artists maintain independent cross-cultural art practices focused on contemporary Australian hybrid identity. Building upon this foundation, the two artists created an original, large-scale performative artwork that explored these themes through collaborative painting. The time-lapse captured the artists' process of layering and resolving their artwork, highlighting a dialogic experience as integral to the piece as the final product, all within a single studio session.
Separated by a generation Mah and See both grew up in Perth, Western Australia, during very different times. Mah immigrating during a period of anti-Chinese sentiment, while See grew up during the overly-mindful multiculturalist decades that ensued. Experiences that both these Australians reflect on when navigating their own contemporary Australian identity. At present See is undertaking his doctoral research at Edith Cowan University exploring dialogic cross-cultural collaborative painting. Due to this research See and Mah have been collaborating since early 2020. A collaboration that has maintained interest for both parties due to their very contrasting approach to figurative painting.
During prior collaborations, Mah and See have discovered they both share strong memories of video game culture in their youth, something they wish to explore as a metaphorical platform for this collaborative artwork. Therefore, the work utilises both the playful and menacing aspects of video game aesthetics, iconography and symbolism—in combination with contemporary cultural tropes—to negotiate their ideas of hybrid Australian identity.
Artwork:
The artwork involves drawing and painting on a large archival sheet of paper of fabric. Materials used include archival and non-hazardous gesso, soya sauce and inks.
Commissioned by ScreenWest, Western Australia
Video screened on 19 June 2020, Yagen Square, Boorloo.
The video, "Today in My Life - Intermission," commissioned by ScreenWest (WA), was screened on June 19, 2020, in Yagan Square, Boorloo (Perth), during the COVID-19 pandemic. This time-lapse video featured Mah and West Australian artist Harrison See. Both artists maintain independent cross-cultural art practices focused on contemporary Australian hybrid identity. Building upon this foundation, the two artists created an original, large-scale performative artwork that explored these themes through collaborative painting. The time-lapse captured the artists' process of layering and resolving their artwork, highlighting a dialogic experience as integral to the piece as the final product, all within a single studio session.
Separated by a generation Mah and See both grew up in Perth, Western Australia, during very different times. Mah immigrating during a period of anti-Chinese sentiment, while See grew up during the overly-mindful multiculturalist decades that ensued. Experiences that both these Australians reflect on when navigating their own contemporary Australian identity. At present See is undertaking his doctoral research at Edith Cowan University exploring dialogic cross-cultural collaborative painting. Due to this research See and Mah have been collaborating since early 2020. A collaboration that has maintained interest for both parties due to their very contrasting approach to figurative painting.
During prior collaborations, Mah and See have discovered they both share strong memories of video game culture in their youth, something they wish to explore as a metaphorical platform for this collaborative artwork. Therefore, the work utilises both the playful and menacing aspects of video game aesthetics, iconography and symbolism—in combination with contemporary cultural tropes—to negotiate their ideas of hybrid Australian identity.
Artwork:
The artwork involves drawing and painting on a large archival sheet of paper of fabric. Materials used include archival and non-hazardous gesso, soya sauce and inks.