Artist (Hsin Rou) Grace Chow
Congratulations to Grace Chow for earning her place a Finalist in the Boynes Emerging Artist Award 7th Edition!
Who are you?
My name is Grace Chow and I am a Taiwanese/Singaporean-Australian interdisciplinary artist: theatre-maker, playwright and actor. In addition to those forms, I have always walked a very private arts practice in painting. I fell into painting from a very young age. So, all of this is to say that I have made a lot of messes and ruined a lot of paint brushes, which is how I think most of us begin.
What inspired you to utilize painting as a medium?
Being an artist of many disciplines (live performance, writing and so on), it was important to me that I had a creative outlet which I did not monetise. Something just for me. And that realm of expression happened to be painting, something I partook in from a very young age and could bring with me on my many travels for theatre and television.
“Untitled”
Acrylic
By Grace Chow
How would you describe your work?
My arts practice generally is characterised by rhythmic and “drunken” surreal image layering, combined with a desire to defeat form and break disciplinary silos. I often explore themes of spirituality, cultural identity and magic. As a painter however, my main preoccupation is the exploration of the human experience of migration, intersecting with the Anthropocene - our geological epoch and extinction as we know it. My paintings typically encompass a feeling of subtle melancholy and boldness in colour, whilst using miniatures – rudimentary and detailed.
Can you discuss the inspiration and thought process behind "Desert in Peak Hour"?
Yes. The inspiration is the Anthropocene: The greatest obstacle our human race is facing and will ever face. And our impending extinction. Responding largely to the book “The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move” by Sonia Shah, I sought to disrupt audience’s understandings of migration by posing migration as an idea of normalcy and something inescapable, a practice humans have partaken in since our nomadic days.
Migration is our past, present and fate.
“Desert in Peak Hour”
Acrylic
By Grace Chow
Can you walk us through the technical steps of creating “Desert in Peak Hour”?
I began with drafting and mixing colours. I trialled shades and shapes and brushes on bits of canvas until I found elements which I thought best translated idea and feeling. Once I had painted the desert landscape upon the final canvas, I began painting the figures on one by one, creating their basic shapes before interpreting and then detailing their personalities and appearance with a highlight colour. If you look closely, you can see the details: beanies, broomsticks, children on shoulders, shopping bags, suitcases, backpacks, wedding dresses, hair… amongst other things.
“Desert in Peak Hour” (detail)
Acrylic
By Grace Chow
What do you hope to communicate to an audience with your work?
This work is largely in response to the 2020 wildfires of Australia, when the Climate Crisis was of utmost importance in public zeitgeist, conscience and protest, that has since faded due to the global impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic. It is a reminder to the public of the preciousness of both human life, and the Earth as we know it, and how we will soon be at its irrevocable mercy. And perhaps how the persistence of our Earth beyond our existence could also be beautiful.
Have you experimented with other mediums?
Yes. Everyday. When you open your mind to what a painting can be, it is difficult to discern where one painting ends and another begins.
Can you talk about your biggest learning experience during the process of creating your work?
Learning to give myself the permission to be ‘shit.’ Pardon the crudeness. It makes starting a lot easier and gardening something truly complex, rich, of-quality and imaginative in the process possible.
It is difficult to make “a bird.”
“Desert in Peak Hour” (detail)
Acrylic
By Grace Chow
Can you discuss your biggest success since starting your artistic journey?
For me, my biggest success is being able to have my artistic practice as my full-time employment: To be able to walk my artistic practice unburdened by anything than the art itself. It is a great privilege and I am very lucky to be able to do so. It goes beyond prizes and awards, though recognition is nice too when it comes. For me, success is the making of the art itself.
What is your dream project or piece you hope to accomplish?
I’m quite obsessed with the impossible, which in and of itself bears great reason to pursue. And that, in painting, seems to be painting 24 million small figures – the population of Australia. A live-art exploration of persistence, migration, birth and the Anthropocene. The marrying of my two loves: theatre and painting. I think it is what Desert in Peak Hour’s true ambition is.
“I Can’t See Your Face Clearly”
Acrylic Paint
By Han Shuai
As a finalist, do you have any advice for artists who want to submit to awards, competitions, residencies, etc.?
Understand the ‘why’ for making your art. Not only will it increase your chances, but you will measure your own success by your own rubric, and not someone else’s. So when awards and competitions and residencies do not come, you understand if is not for the sake of them that you make.
Lastly, I like to ask everyone what advice they would give to their fellow artists, what is your advice?
Keep going. I am glad you are here.
To view more of Grace Chow