My works respond to and re-imagine questions of belonging and becoming by transforming pre-existing imagery, objects, literature and everyday rituals into symbolic shells that accommodate experience and identity shaped by migration and cultural hybridisation.
The interplay between material, imagery, and narrative is central to my practice. I employ material with symbolic power to hijack and reanimate imagery which resonates intensely with experiences of dislocation and identity shifting. At the same time, narrative – whether embedded within the imagery itself or borrowed from external sources – informs and guides the process of hijacking and reanimation. These three elements engage in a dynamic exchange, simultaneously contesting and opening up to one another, resulting in hybrid projects in between painting, photography, and installation.
At This Art Fair 2025, I am showing results from an ongoing project in which I paint over images of women’s hairstyle in pre-modern East Asia with rice. These rice paintings draw upon narratives surrounding women’s hair in mythologies, religions and history, translating them into an imitation of primitive pattern. Rice, a symbol closely related to the East Asian body, becomes the blood and flesh that reanimates these patterns, resurrecting the underlying oriental symbols with a visceral sensation.
