Becoming With…

Created in 2021, Becoming with… was made for Presence of Mind, a residency and exhibition project at Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios that examines the intersection of mindfulness, Buddhism and the creative process of visual artists in Australia and Singapore. This exhibition featured the work of Cindy Yuen-Zhe Chen, Jeremy Chu, Lada Dedić, Kath Fries, Lindy Lee, Jason Lim, Kristina Mah, Aryadharma Aaron Matheson, Nell, Alecia Neo, Shirley Soh, Phaptawan Suwannakudt, Lachlan Warner. Curated by Dr Kath Fries & Rachael Kiang.

The exhibition can be viewed online at the Presence of Mind webpage.

Artist Statement

Making this work provided me with welcome respite and space for stillness during a time of upheaval. Stitching a paper scroll using thread imbued with ink and exposing the scroll to showers of rain involved an inward and outward turning of awareness. I listened to dharma talks on metta (loving-kindness), as a balm for anxiety and to intermittent spring rain pattering on the paper scroll and my skin as a practice of being emplaced. Random patterns of ink blossoming in the rain became my guide for learning to draw with openness. In the second stage of drawing, my brush traversed uneven creases of paper; clustered strokes of ink appeared through interactions between the paper and brush, hand and mind. In each moment, we are becoming with the phenomena and events around us.

These aleatory processes of drawing depart from methods used in my early practice, which can be seen in the piece Soundscape: Karaniya Metta Sutta from 2011. This multi-panelled drawing responds to the tradition of the Chinese landscape scroll and to the encompassing glow of loving kindness, however, the marks I made were very carefully composed. While my drawing practice has evolved towards randomness and fluidity of form, repetitive and mindful mark-making continues to be a thread of interwoven Buddhist and creative practice that shapes my work.​