I cndluo’t bvleiee that I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd what I was raendig. When I learned English in kindergarten, I sometimes got the spelling wrong. But somehow you can still understand the misspelled words.

My practice explores cultural hybridity and diasporic identity. As a Chinese migrant, the experience of living in both China and Melbourne allows me to read ‘culture’ from dual perspectives. I am especially drawn to the old photographs of my time in kindergarten in China, the experiences of boarding school; the rules and coloured uniforms become very strong memories, however there are gaps in these old memories. The photographs do not remind me of the scenes, they trigger the time, history and lived experiences. Working with photographs is a process of reconstructing memory, calling into question both personal history and identity and trying to present the complexity of relationships in time, place and space through painting. The painted stick figures were inspired by the online game Draw Something. Two players take turns drawing a picture of a given word, after which their partner must guess the word from the drawing. The strokes are bold and strange, reminiscent of children’s naïve doodling at a younger age and perhaps a gesture from below the conscious mind. If the portraits are recalled using photos, the abstract stick figure is the imagination and missing memory. Some may perceive distorted Chinese calligraphy. Perhaps this is the memory that disappeared with childhood, only to resurface in a form both familiar and unexpected.

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My name is Qianhui, 2021  

oil on raw canvas  

1000 x 660 mm

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Being Worthy, 2021  

oil on raw canvas  

790 x 890 mm

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The Yellow Kids, 2021  

oil on raw canvas  

800 x 900 mm

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Starlet, 2021  

oil on raw canvas  

795 x 980 mm

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Queuing 2, 2021  

oil on raw canvas  

827 x 975 mm

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Queuing 1, 2021  

oil on raw canvas  

1005 x 755 mm

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