Sai-Wai Foo

 “Late Bloom”

Australian Galleries Melbourne from 25 October – 12 November 2022

For more information and to acquire a piece for your collection, please email enquiries@australiangalleries.com.au or call 03 9417 4303

LATE BLOOM

Taking inspiration from the Japanese concept of oubaitori (桜梅桃李), Sai-Wai Foo tenderly and joyfully embraces the late bloomers and the misfits in her latest body of work.

Comprising the kanji characters for four blossoming trees – cherry, apricot, peach, and plum – oubaitori represents the art of not comparing. Though cherry is the most recognisable star of Japan’s hanami (‘flower-viewing’) season, each blossom is distinct and beautiful in its own way. Oubaitori is not a question of searching for equivalence in the four blossoms’ beauty, but rather understanding that comparison is pointless and – to paraphrase Mark Twain or Teddy Roosevelt – joy-killing. In the current era of peak status anxiety and obsessive self-analysis, aided by the everpresent distorted mirror of social media, Foo’s reminder to embrace individuality and respect the path to blossoming, no matter how long or awkward the journey, is uplifting.

Delicately handcut and collaged images literally bloom out from the pages of old books and surfaces of salvaged treasures. The occasional book title peeping out – English Spinster or Wild Things - makes ironic reference to our cultural obsession with youth and refinement, and the persistent stereotypes which haunt women and social outliers.

Rich in references to the natural world, Foo’s exquisitely assembled works contain unfurling universes which are poetic, feminine, and just a little bit macabre. Notably, many creatures that metamorphose and become most beautiful in their mature state feature throughout the works: butterflies, orchids, and snakes that embody the potential for reinvention and re-emergence. In her dynamic compositions, Foo has reanimated the butterfly’s flight and the wind of the snake through foliage, releasing them from static and moribund black and white print. In salvaging and filing old prints, books, and ornaments in her vast studio stores, and so carefully reconstructing them into precious objects, Foo gives her materials a magical second life.

A little melancholy streak does run through this body of work. The iconography of flowers and insects immediately conjures memento mori, classical artistic reminders of the inevitability of death.   This is echoed in the effect of the cloche jars and the specimen pins, almost evoking a sense of capture, of containment in dark museum collection drawers.  Perhaps this quality is a reminder that even the most confident and colourful people have moments of vulnerability in a sometimes hostile world.

Foo’s embrace of adornment, in art and in life, is a powerful expression not only of her creativity and maximalist aesthetic, but her lived experiences and personal ethics. Decorating herself is an act of pride, unapologetically taking up space as a woman of colour, a mature talent, and an artist of diverse cultural (and pop cultural) influences. That bold vision is brought to life in these works which embody chaos, beauty, history, and reinvention. Lovingly plucked from obscurity and painstakingly composed into objects of beauty and value, these intimate and vibrant works are enchanting and inspiring. With Late Bloom, Foo reminds us to forget comparison and bloom in our own time.

-        Lauren Ellis 2022