Station 4

Pia Mater, digital print on lightbox transparency, print dimensions 135 x 88cm in site specific installation.

My practice often draws inspiration from my Thai-Australian heritage and explores the ways in which cultural identity is negotiated between a range of influences. In approaching the fourth station of the cross, I was drawn towards a universal subtext of mortality could be drawn from interpreting how two consecutive generations regard each other. Two studies of my mother, a Buddhist, were taken in her home in Thailand after the funeral of her brother; a nude portrait superimposed on top of an image of her shrouded in a mosquito net. Within this image the contours of the net specifically allude to folds carved in marble and stone of classical sculptural forms, often depicting Western religious iconography; while the mass of fabric itself suggests shrouds and garments that could be associated across a range of faiths.

In this intimate image she displays a physical and emotional vulnerability, which I wanted to incorporate into the church site—condensing a seemingly broad range of cultural allusions and personal narratives with one intervention. The work uses the architecture of the church and the yellow light filtering through the stained glass of the chapel room illuminates this evocative portrait.