Jason Phu

Jason Phu grew up in a Chinese household in Australia and visited relatives in Beijing every year. Chinese culture and the elements of Chan Buddhism and Taoism have always been essential to his understanding of life, and to his art. His installation is a hybrid Chan Buddhist/Taoist shrine to The Enduring Conflict of Life, sexual frustration and death. Phu has created his own Taoist talismans (used for religious purposes) and spray-painted them on plastic that adorns the walls. The other elements of the installation come from a combination of objects he found at Buddhist stores, Bunnings and Kmart. Working with whatever he can find enables him to be true to the philosophies he conveys.

Phu has been the subject of solo exhibitions and has been included in several group exhibitions including Closing the Distance at Bundoora Homestead Art Centre, which explored themes of migration and the diasporic experience in the Chinese community of Australia. He has received a Freedman Foundation Travelling Scholarship and was awarded the Sulman Prize in 2015.