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For me art is a universal means of communication, it has the ability to educate and break down barriers of cultural difference. I am from a mixed Chinese and English background, and have a Buddhist and Catholic upbringing. It was tempting for me to focus on the presence of the Chinese community here in the UK and its relationship (if not my family’s relationship) to art. But I wanted to explore more than that in my work as I certainly encompass more than that in my everyday life and own perspectives of art.
My first major independent travel came after my A-Levels when I worked and lived in a village in Kerala, Southern India. My experiences there were overwhelming and life changing. I opened my mind and my senses to so much more than I could have ever believed possible; I lived how the locals lived, I ate how the locals ate, and even spoke their language. It was a case of education and adaptation.
I feel like I was a different person then, and when I returned to India this year I resumed that identity. Here in London I don’t wear saris or bindis, I don’t eat with my hands, or pray in the temple, but I still think it is an integral and continual part of me. Like when people migrate to this country, as my mum did, they change, they adapt, or are at least affected by the sensory experiences that build our lives.
This is what is most fascinating.
How we change, modify and alter our lives.
How art plays a role in that.
And what we even perceive as art?
