Daydreaming with Jason Phu

Artist Jason Phu sitting on a wooden stool infron of their artworks. Jason wears blue jeans and a black jacket. His artworks are black line drawings of everyday household objects, captioned in both English and Chinese Mandarin. There is a chair drawn with the caption 'wood rolled sitting chair', a kettle with the caption 'tea leave / rolling water', a bunch of bok choy with the caption 'very tasty', and an arm flexing it's muscle with the caption 'roll up your sleeves'

*** Please note that this event is no longer running. Thank you to everyone who stopped by to share their daydreams***

The New Student Precinct Project and its curatorial partner Next Wave have commissioned artist Jason Phu to chat to students during study breaks during SWOTVAC, Semester 2 2019. Jason is a prolific installation artist who blends humour, heart and his cultural identity to create unique pieces of art all over the country. The conversations students have had with Jason will result in in the collective creation of an artwork.

The finished artwork will be a permanent installation in the New Student Precinct, in the painted graffiti style Jason in renowned for, inscribed with messages from students.

Jason held conversations with students about the common themes in the scribbles on our desks to unearth motivations: from missing home, to what awaits after class, to political activism, unrequited love, secrets and poetry. These daydreams will be built into the collaborative artwork.

About the Artist: Jason Phu

Artist Jason Phu sitting on a wooden stool infron of their artworks. Jason wears blue jeans and a black jacket. His artworks are black line drawings of everyday household objects, captioned in both English and Chinese Mandarin. There is a chair drawn with the caption 'wood rolled sitting chair', a kettle with the caption 'tea leave / rolling water', a bunch of bok choy with the caption 'very tasty', and an arm flexing it's muscle with the caption 'roll up your sleeves

Jason’s multi-disciplinary practice brings together a wide range of (sometimes contradictory) references from traditional ink paintings and calligraphy to mass-produced objects, everyday vernacular to official records, personal narratives to historical events. Working across drawing, installation, painting and performance, the artist frequently uses humour as a device to explore experiences of cultural dislocation.

Last year (2018) he showed in the Dobell Drawing Biennale at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, The Burrangong Affray at the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art and Primavera 2018 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. To learn more about Jason and his work, visit his website.

a series of brightly coloured, cartoonish polygons

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Precinct team.