Linda Cheok

As an Australian originally from Singapore with sub-ethnic Peranakan Chinese cultural roots as well as a Japanophile, I am intrigued by what constitutes identity.

I completed BA in Philosophy and Japanese studies in NUS Singapore followed latterly with a BFA (Hons) and a scholarship to do the MFA in UWA, where I currently tutor in Art History units. My artistic oeuvre incorporates elements from my Singaporean Peranakan Chinese background agglutinated with living in Margaret River and the mountain village of Nozawa Onsen in Nagano Japan. I have opted to use symbols and motifs to represent aspects of the various cultures of my lived experiences to yield meaning to my work.

My home and art studio situated in the 54ha Erravilla Country Estate provides an inspirational and creative space for my artistic pursuits. The body of work that I have created for this year's Margaret River Art Studios embraces colour, playful appropriation and a focus on craft's position within the modern and contemporary art scene. The British Arts and Crafts movement, the Bauhaus art school and the philosophy of the Mingei (Folk Crafts) informs my artistic oeuvre. Works created bear traces of Art DNA from the Paleolithic through to the Contemporary via pastiche and appropriation.