MÌNH Exhibition at Fairfield Museum and Gallery

Curated by Sheila Ngọc Phạm in collaboration with Fairfield Museum and Gallery, MÌNH is an everyday word which refers to our bodies and selves, but it also means us; about who we are as individuals as well as how we exist together. Through the work of artists and writers, MÌNH explores Vietnamese and Chinese diasporic life in Australia today, and questions what it means to be who we are now. Presenting 17 contributors, the exhibition reveals these collective memories, yearnings and preoccupations.

Curiosity, fantasy, and imagination animate my artmaking practice. I centred this work around something that makes my grandma’s home feel other-worldly – her wicked teapot collection. She has chosen each teapot for its quirkiness and sturdiness. My grandparents’ home in Wakeley has inspired many of my illustrations and murals because my sister and I spent so much of our childhood gallivanting around the backyard with the rest of the neighbourhood kids. And so, this work is very much about childhood nostalgia. Each piece is a portal into a past feeling or memory. The character is part lotus, part ranchu goldfish – a reccurring detail that represents my affinity for creating characters and their worlds. For six years and counting, I’ve painted goldfish creating these characters as a form of therapy whenever I feel the seriousness and pressures of life – which would seem like a lot of goldfish.