Scattered In Situ

‘Scattered In Situ’ highlights experiences and emotions of Asian diaspora in Australia and provides a visual representation of multicultural identity. The series features five Australians who are connected to Japan, Vietnam, India, China, Pakistan, the Philippines and Cambodia. These are the countries where they grew up, where their parents grew up, where they were born or where their parents were born. These countries remain important even though they do not live there. Just as these individuals exist across, between and beyond dualities of place and culture, the series transcends the confines of photography and painting. The portraits have been tailored to reflect each person and they were taken outdoors in the natural environment of their current home of Canberra, Australia. Each photograph is superimposed by the foreign presence of physical paint which is not yet dry. This process of creating the work through digital media, transferring to analogue and then back to digital mimics the transformative experience of diaspora itself.

Made in collaboration with Grace Sun.

Models: Sara Baig, Lisa Le, Jim Punnett, Rachel Reid and Tanika Sibal.
Shot August 2020.

Published in Sweet and Sour.