HT:

I was actively involved in the Brisbane art scene between 1986 and 1995 and participated in artist-runs including QAA, Axix Art Projects, John Mills National, John Mills Annexe, Bureau and the early days of helping set up Eyeline Magazine.

I believe that the remix project is a fantastic contribution to the archiving of Queensand’s changing art scene and would be invaluable material recording the state’s arts and cultural scene.

Today, I am still a practising artist, having been able to build on my initial practice through early exhibitions at ARI’s such as THAT Contemporary Artspace, John Mills National, Arch Lane Public Art, Bureau, and many others, taking me to exhibitions at the Venice Biennale, and solo exhibitions in state and public galleries in Canada and the United Kingdom.

HT:

I came to Brisbane in 1986, having had lived in Hong Kong and Scotland. As an outsider just starting in art – for me at least – it was rather liberating. There was already a bit going on in the young artists’ scene and it was lucky for me to be involved with it pretty quickly.

HT:

My arrival was towards the end of the Bjelke-Petersen-era so it didn’t play much of an impact on my art practice or myself to a large degree. However, the discussion relating to Queenland’s hot expressionist style versus the cool conceptual practices promoted by the Institute of Modern Art, and the politics of representation surrounding the Queensland Art Gallery and the IMA were more central to my interests at the time.

HT:

With those I knew who had lived in Queensland, the politics and corruption were definitely issues that drove many of their art practices. I came in late in the Bjelke-Petersen saga so it was more in the background of things.

HT:

My original background was in graphic design and illustration. I was interested in the Pictures Generation artists of the era, and artists like Ed Ruscha, Katharina Fritsch, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Barbara Bloom and David Diao. I began making installed works in Hong Kong and that continued in Australia – they were a mix of painting, objects and photography. Later on there was a focus on photo objects but the practice always resides in between those media. The work is quite varied in terms of their themes but they are always invariably connected with the premise of identity and its interactions with the world at large. There is always an on-going dialogue with the mechanism of art versus design, and their communicative roles.

HT:

The first artists I met in Brisbane were Jane Richens and you Paul. I got involved with Adam Boyd and Virginia Barratt at John Mills Nationals and did projects there and THAT Contemporary Artspace. I had a little studio room underneath John Mills I shared with Adam, and later on at Site in Fortitute Valley. There were many exhibition projects and curatorial collaborations over that period, at Bureau, Isn’t, IMA, and the Queensland State Library, to name a few. There were endless conversations with Luke Roberts and Scott Redford over the years, and many collaborations with Scott continue to this day.

HT:

I was born in Hong Kong and I lived in Scotland when I was a teenager. After returning to Hong Kong in the mid-1980s I came to Australia. Since the mid-1990s I have been back in Hong Kong, but I still have family in Brisbane.

HT:

I think my mother can be considered as the new generation of women in the 1950s/60s. She has always been creative and as I was growing up she became a floral artist and subsequently it turned into a career and business. She was definitely a strong influence on my artistic slant.

HT:

I can’t think of anything specific – when I studied graphic design it was natural progression than something I had always wanted to do. It was never my burning ambition to make art- but more a reflection on my personal growth

HT:

On reflection, I was reared on those IMA talks. They were certainly my art training in that era. Working on the many projects with artists, curators and galleries at the time was also great training- and I am grateful to many of those people. I also came to see the ‘quirks’ of some in the art world, and that had been highly educational.

HT:

The most interesting art is probably borne out of being displaced and ‘not belonging.’ I remembered there was a talk at IMA on regionalism and provincialism- the ‘centre’ and ‘periphery.’ As the world becomes more globalized, cultures actually turn regionalized and inward-looking. Not being from Australia, my headspace was elsewhere (it still is). I think I have always been more interested in the interconnections between cultures and people, history and fiction, high art and advertising, pop music and design; and how the interaction of these elements create meaningful narratives that transcend their physical space.

HT:

I lived in Paddington for most of those years. I went to the Rocking Horse and Kent Records a lot. There were many dinners with the art crowd in New Farm and West End. I remembered cooking quite a few art party dinners at home.

HT:

Over the years I worked with Scott Redford consistently. We continued the collaborations after my departure from Australia.

HT:

The invitation to show at Camden Arts Centre in London was a great break. It was the first show for a Chinese artist at a British contemporary art museum way before the China art boom. In 2002, my friendship with Canadian curator Donna McAlear (who visited and then later moved to Brisbane) resulted in a state gallery show at The Winnipeg Art Gallery. They were great opportunities to be working on that level.