In 2011, the Census revealed that 1 in 4 Australians were born overseas. As a Thai born Australian, I am interested in the effects of migration of people… including myself.
“Happy Land” explores flora and fauna that migrants bring with them to create a familiar home environment within Australia. The series investigates how the animals and plants are impacted, and how they impact the local communities and their environment.
Rabbits and Lantana flower were both introduced by the early colonists to make Australia as much like Europe as they possibly could. Rabbits may look cute and Lantana might look beautiful, but they are some of the worst pests and weeds in the country. They cause major damage to the Australian economy and environment.
My figurines are based on a Buddha statue as a reference to the great Migrations of Buddhism from India, through Asia to Australia. The Buddha Statue also represents a mix of the different cultures accumulated through this journey.
On a personal level, Buddhist temples remind me of a sanctuary for humans as well as animals and plants as a metaphor for Australia – a sanctuary for migrants.
The colour scheme of blue and white is used not only as a reference to the porcelain of China exported to Europe hundreds of years ago, but also to my own migration from Thailand to Australia, from east to west. The colour also symbolises the fluidity of borders between our different cultures.
