Vipoo Srivilasa
Wellness Deity
22 May 2021 > 22 August 2021
Opening Friday 21 May 2021, from 6pm.
Vipoo Srivilasa is a Thai-born Melbourne-based artist, curator and arts activist. Srivilasa works predominantly in porcelain but
also in an inter-disciplinary manner, creating works on paper, mix media and bronze sculpture, as well as large scale public art.
Srivilasa’s playful blend of 19th century European figurines and Asian decorative art practices often explores contemporary cross-cultural
and migration experiences.
This exhibition will present the Wellness Deity Project, which Srivilasa undertook in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This collaborative, community-driven project encouraged people to reflect on their experience of the pandemic. The artist invited people to submit a drawing of their Wellness Deity, a being that has a special empowering or protective power. Srivilasa selected 19 of these drawings to provide inspiration for a series of ceramic sculptures. Each deity has its own unique characteristics based on the personal stories submitted. Each work is also accompanied by a piece of commissioned creative writing.
Be brave
IMAGE > [Top] Vipoo Srivilasa, Wellness Deity, 2020. Image courtesy of the artist and Scott Livesey Galleries.
Photograph: Simon Strong.
IMAGE > Portrait of Vipoo Srivilasa. Photograph: Eve Wilson.
IMAGE > Vipoo Srivilasa, Wellness Deity, 2020. Image courtesy of the artist and Scott Livesey Galleries.. Photograph:
Simon Strong.
Be bold
For more than twenty years, Srivilasa has exhibited internationally and throughout Australia. He holds a Master of Fine Art and Design from the University of Tasmania. His work is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Queensland Art Gallery and Shepparton Art Museum amongst others. This year he has been awarded the 2021 Ceramic Artist of the Year by Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated, The American Ceramic Society, USA.
Vipoo Srivilasa is represented by Edwina Corlette Gallery, Brisbane; Scott Livesey Galleries, Melbourne; Olsen Gallery, Sydney; Adrian Sassoon, London; and Subhashok Arts Centre in Bangkok.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts.
The Wellness Deity project is a record of people's emotions during this unprecedented situation.
Vipoo Srivilasa, 2021
IMAGE > Vipoo Srivilasa, Wellness Deity, 2020. Image courtesy of the artist and Scott Livesey Galleries. Photograph: Simon Strong.
Accompanying the Wellness Deity works will be a trio of paintings made by the artist during Melbourne's second lockdown. A further series of sculptures that celebrate the colour blue, which has been an ongoing feature in Srivilasa's practice, will also extend his formal exploration of the deity.
Be brave
IMAGE > Vipoo Srivilasa, A Good Friend Is Like A Four-Leaf Clover, 2020, Ceramic and high-pigmentation
acrylic. Courtesy of the artist and Scott Livesey Galleries. Photograph: Andrew Barcham and the artist.
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Visit Vipoo Srivilasa's website
Behind these fun, colourful and whimsical creations, Vipoo cleverly incorporates cultural, environmental and political topics that have captured his interest. His sculptures are a perfect blend between East and West, and have become his specialty; a style of sculpture that instantly links itself to Vipoo’s wonderful mind and talents.
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