'Explore', mixed media, October 2017.
Artist statement
My parents are migrants from Malaysia, who moved to Melbourne to start a family. When I was a kid, my dad would frequently take me to the local library and encourage me to read, so that I would learn how to speak and write English well.
I was never allowed out much when I was small, but reading books allowed me to learn about the world and travel to different places. I was particularly interested in stories about peculiar creatures encountered by explorers.
This illustration is a tribute to the explorers who catalogued those peculiar creatures, and to the power of books to take readers to new and strange lands.
'Explore' displayed on the State Library of Victoria facade.
About
I created this illustration for the State Library of Victoria and Redbubble's worldwide #CreateArtHistory competition and won first prize. My work was displayed on 16-metre banners on the front of the State Library from 1 December 2017 to 18 March 2018 (originally 31 January 2018; display was extended). The State Library of Victoria is the busiest state library in Australia, with over 2 million visitors in the 2016-17 financial year.
Merchandise from my Redbubble store was also sold in the Library's Readings bookshop during and after this period and I was Redbubble's January 2018 featured artist.
The brief was to use selected images from the State Library's digital image pool to create a new artwork. The State Library's digital image pool contains thousands of high-quality scans from its book collection. I chose the theme "Weird and Wonderful Creatures". I used images of ships from an illustration by Isaac Commelin (1646), and illustrations of fish by Louis Renard (1754), mer-people and fish by Joannes Jonstonus (1667) and a platypus by François Péron (1807-17).
My illustration was also featured in animated light projections on the State Library for White Night Melbourne 2018. The event draws over 500,000 visitors to Melbourne's central business district for an all-night celebration of the city's contemporary arts scene.
State Library of Victoria during December 2017 Christmas light projections.
Photo credit: City of Melbourne
