Central to Vipoo Srivilasa’s creative practice is art’s ability to elicit the sense of joy, whilst also acting as a conduit for serious issues. The artist’s upcoming exhibition reflects on lingering feelings of loneliness through the creation of fantastical porcelain friends.
I spoke with Vipoo Srivilasa about his upcoming exhibition at Olsen Gallery over beloved Zoom. The technology strongly embraced during the pandemic is not the only hangover of these past few years, but as Srivilasa playfully explores in this exhibition, so is the lingering sense of loneliness.
The exhibition Always Better Together focusses on friendship and stems from Srivilasa’s experience of missing friends and family during the harsh lockdowns, and the friendly companions he wished he had close by. Despite its heavy focus on lockdowns, he started developing the series in January this year in a post-pandemic reality. He explores that while the effects of isolation have been seemingly brushed to the peripheries of the minds of some, the emotional impacts of the pandemic were and continue to be felt by many. For Srivilasa, some of this has been alleviated, having recently returned from a trip to Thailand to see family and friends for the first time in over three years.
Srivilasa’s artistic practice, spanning over twenty years, often explores cross-cultural and migrant experiences and more serious, contentious issues such as climate change. However, for Srivilasa, it is imperative that the work “still heals, is fun, and brings happiness to people.” Srivilasa’s work is “all about positive thinking and happiness,” so that people effortlessly “connect to [his] work first and then later get the serious message.”
Despite the severe isolation during the pandemic, it was his friends that helped him and each other to survive the testing times. Since he couldn’t see his friends, Srivilasa decided to “just make them” and put them into his artwork as little joyful figurines adorning deity-like forms. The creation of these porcelain friends was spontaneous, not, “Oh I want this friend to be a rich friend, or handsome friend,” but rather, “Oh my god I miss my garden . . . so I make friends who can garden with me.” The figurines are not literal, realistic representations but possess suggestions of these, including a character that is intricately decorated with flowers or leaves to represent gardening and others adorned with different clothes, some on animals representing travel.
This series continues his signature colour palette of blue, white, and gold, this time with additional sporadic dispersions of playful colourful tones. The blue and white provide a comfortable familiarity with his Thai audience, and reflect his journey from Thailand to Australia, from east to west akin to the white and blue ceramics from China sent to Europe. The use of gold not only intensifies the blue and white, but creates illustrious depth and dimension. This refined colour selection arose from a desire to provide a sense of familiarity of his work to Thai audiences as well as his developing concerns over the environmental sustainability of his practice. The shift to a more environmentally conscious process was instigated by the overwhelming use of water required to wash tools and materials as well as the toxic chemicals of leftover glazes he had no choice but to to pour down the sink. These concerns remain pertinent to the way in Srivilasa creates his works, and he now minimises the amount of toxic waste and energy needed by using single glazing and firing techniques.
In Friendship is Another Word For Love, 2022, the porcelain ripples down and around the figure forming a decadently frilled deity. Upon its face are Srivilasa’s two little friends, both with two sets of iridescent blue eyes. These are his eyes nestled below his friend’s eyes, so that his friend can watch over him and make sure that he is okay. In another, I will be there for you III, 2022, Srivilasa has placed figurines on an animal that can be used to travel and see friends, and can even be seen holding small, comforting friends of their own.
Some of Srivilasa’s cute ceramic characters are nestled in wooden boxes from Japan that were sent to him from a friend during lockdown. These boxes became a “symbol of the friendship” and are transformed into a ceramic decorated shrine, further amplifying his reference to deities. In this series, Srivilasa adds touches of different colours, adding a more playful and cheerful sense to the series, such as flickers of soft yellow and purple. The insertion of colour also breaks the pattern of his artistic production and provides an ongoing creative challenge, not only from work to work, but from each series to the next.
Srivilasa’s works are beginning to creep into different explorations and forms. His fantastical friends are not only roaming throughout the gallery space and hailed as deities but also adorn the walls. This exhibition sees Srivilasa pushing his practice towards a two-dimensional surface and painting on tiles, a skill developed during the Melbourne lockdowns. Still working with porcelain clay and the colour palette of blue, white, and gold, this will be an introduction to painting to tie cohesively with his established sculptural practice. The forms resemble paintings, however they also reflect the materiality and composition of the sculptural ceramic pieces.
Not only do the ceramic forms exude a sense of joy, but the feeling of happiness is integral to their creation. For Srivilasa, he needs to enjoy and feel happy while creating the work, which is evidenced in the expression of the works themselves. While reflective of difficult times and those friends we wish we held close during the pandemic, Always Better Together reminds, and enables us to embrace each other and joy.
