Now M Carries That Stone Too (2020-2021), synthetic polymer, pandanus, curry powder, soya sauce, bubble tea, eucalyptus extract and stickers on board (diptych) with various mechanical components, pinewood framed, (H) 120cm x (W) 188cm x (D) 6.5cm.
Painting commissioned by Diversity Arts Australia (New South Wales) and partly funded through Six : 2020 Art Grant, Mossenson Art Foundation (Western Australia).
Painting commissioned by Diversity Arts Australia (New South Wales) and partly funded through Six : 2020 Art Grant, Mossenson Art Foundation (Western Australia).
ARTIST STATEMENT
President Donald Trump’s politicisation of COVID-19 as ‘the Chinese virus’ perpetuates the imperialist idea of Asia as ‘strange’ and ‘defective’ fuelling anxieties across communities globally. A recent COVID-19 Racism Incident Report Survey1 revealed that Asian-Australians (female majority) are being discriminated based loosely on eating habits and appearances. My daughter M was verbally demonised as a virus-carrying pet-eater by a peer during a two-minute-long encounter.
My painting portrays M the monster with her three undead guinea pigs drinks bubble tea and carries a thrown white stone. The stone, points to the Biblical scene in John 8:3-8, where the crowd gathers to stone a woman accused of adultery; Jesus intervenes announcing that only the sinless should cast the first stone.
Broadening the scope of contemporary paintings, and part of an ongoing series, my works involve olfactory and mechanical engagements. This painting explores the pervasive projection of fear by opposing cultural ideas through menacing monsters. M the monster emits aromas—smells gathered from her home and the natural Australian environment—breathing mechanically for two minutes at every forty-five minutes2 . The familiar smells and breathing process, humanise and unsettle the monster, question the cultural biases against Asian hyphen identities in this COVID-19 period.
1) The Asian Australian Alliance and Osmond Chiu, April - June 2020 (over respondents 65% identified as female).
2) The Australian Human Rights Commission says about one in four people who lodged racial discrimination complaints in the past two months say they were targeted due to COVID-19. The cycle is calculated based on one in four people, so for every 45 minutes the monster will breathe for two minutes (the two-minute-long encounter).
President Donald Trump’s politicisation of COVID-19 as ‘the Chinese virus’ perpetuates the imperialist idea of Asia as ‘strange’ and ‘defective’ fuelling anxieties across communities globally. A recent COVID-19 Racism Incident Report Survey1 revealed that Asian-Australians (female majority) are being discriminated based loosely on eating habits and appearances. My daughter M was verbally demonised as a virus-carrying pet-eater by a peer during a two-minute-long encounter.
My painting portrays M the monster with her three undead guinea pigs drinks bubble tea and carries a thrown white stone. The stone, points to the Biblical scene in John 8:3-8, where the crowd gathers to stone a woman accused of adultery; Jesus intervenes announcing that only the sinless should cast the first stone.
Broadening the scope of contemporary paintings, and part of an ongoing series, my works involve olfactory and mechanical engagements. This painting explores the pervasive projection of fear by opposing cultural ideas through menacing monsters. M the monster emits aromas—smells gathered from her home and the natural Australian environment—breathing mechanically for two minutes at every forty-five minutes2 . The familiar smells and breathing process, humanise and unsettle the monster, question the cultural biases against Asian hyphen identities in this COVID-19 period.
1) The Asian Australian Alliance and Osmond Chiu, April - June 2020 (over respondents 65% identified as female).
2) The Australian Human Rights Commission says about one in four people who lodged racial discrimination complaints in the past two months say they were targeted due to COVID-19. The cycle is calculated based on one in four people, so for every 45 minutes the monster will breathe for two minutes (the two-minute-long encounter).