DHG Friends studio visit - Savanhdary Vongpoothorn

In conjunction with the exhibition Material Nature (Drill Hall Gallery 20 June - 10 August), join us as we visit the studio of artist Savanhdary Vongpoothorn.

Savanhdary Vongpoothorn is a painter, sculptor and installation artist known for her perforated canvases and intimate works on paper. She studied visual art at Western Sydney University and completed a Master of Fine Art at the University of New South Wales (CoFA).

Recognised as one of Australia’s leading artists from the South-East Asian region, Vongpoothorn arrived in Australia with her family when she was eight years old, having fled Laos in 1979. Her deeply contemplative work is remarkable in sustaining creative and critical relationships with multiple influences. Marked by an enduring interest in her South-East Asian origins and their relationship to contemporary Australia, her work bridges contemporary realities with historical reference, advancing a practice that is inherently hybrid and polyvalent.

Vongpoothorn is included in most national public and numerous private collections. Her work has received international recognition and in 2019 she was the subject of the survey exhibition All that arises at the Drill Hall Gallery.

Savanhdary Vongpoothorn lives and works in Canberra. She is represented by Niagara Galleries in Melbourne and Liverpool Street Gallery in Sydney.

Material Nature looks to the power of materials to engage our sensory understanding of the natural world. Works by artists Ros Auld, Manini Gumana, Jahnne Pasco-White, John Peart, Ana Pollak, Annika Romeyn, Savanhdary Vongpoothorn and Garawan Wanambi invite contemplation of our inter-relations with ecologies, encompassing ethical and political questions and proposing relations that extend beyond human centred perspectives.

To participate you can join the Friends online, in the Gallery or over the phone. 

Image left: detail Tree III, image right: Savanhdary Vongpoothorn. Photos by Brenton McGeachie