Though he graduated from the UK’s Loughborough University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Painting in 1998, Chinese-Australian artist Desmond Mah only began his professional practice in 2016. Since then, he has wasted no time pioneering a recognisable, highly textural painting style in a bid to interrogate themes of diaspora, migration and alienation informed by his lived experiences as a Singapore-born man now based in Perth. In an Australian (and indeed, global) arts industry increasingly committed to platforming diverse voices, Mah’s work has struck a particular chord in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the increased instances of racism it has provoked.
Mah this year won the Southern Buoy Studio Portrait Prize and is a returning finalist in the Incinerator Art Award, Melbourne and the Invitation Art Prize, Perth. He has participated in international artists residencies in Beijing hosted by Red Gate Gallery and had work commissioned by Diversity Arts Australia and Screenwest in Western Australia. Mah’s work can also be found in notable collector and White Rabbit Gallery owner Judith Neilson’s private collection. Mah’s skilful articulation of tensions between Asian and Western traditions and quest for cultural authenticity will no doubt see his star continue to rise.
Featured image: Desmond Mah, I am not a virus (我不是病毒), 2020. Oil paint, synthetic polymer, incense, pandanus, oolong, eucalyptus on board, 120 x 90 x 3.5cm. Courtesy: the artist.