Vipoo Srivilasa’s ceramic sculptures for the Basil Sellers Art Prize 5 are simultaneously familiar and strange. A witty union of art and sport, each sculpture pairs an iconic artwork with a star athlete. Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker (1903) wears a full-length swimsuit that instantly brings to mind Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe. Jeff Koons’ balloon dog sculptures morph into tennis player Lleyton Hewitt making his trademark ‘C’mon’ hand gesture. The mask of bushranger Ned Kelly, immortalised in the paintings of Sidney Nolan, peeks out from the hood of Cathy Freeman’s Olympic body suit. Ai Wei Wei’s sunflowers cluster around the signature ‘double cobra’ pose of AFL player Levi Casboult. The success of each unlikely merger hinges upon the recognisability of objects, people and gestures so famous that they have transcended their context and entered into the realm of pop culture reference. 

Srivilasa is interested in the act of collecting as an expression of fandom. Curious to discover what drives enthusiasts to devote so much time and money to amassing objects, the artist conducted clay modelling workshops with collectors of art and of sports memorabilia, using these sessions as a way to engage each group in conversation. The phrases above were gathered during the workshops, and separated from their speakers it is impossible to tell which refer to artworks and which to sports memorabilia. At the outset of the project, Srivilasa focused on the perceived differences between the two groups, but what the workshops demonstrated is that the language of collectors is similar regardless of the nature of their collections. 

Jacqueline Doughty 

Super Hero

Super Hero commissioned by Henan Museum for the First Central China International Ceramics Biennale.
 
The project builds upon two key aspects of Vipoo Srivilasa’s artistic practice. Firstly, it demonstrates his passion for mentoring, and engaging with the general public in an informal manner over clay projects. Secondly, his work engages in dialogues about the human condition in East Asia.

Srivilasa asked local children in Zhengzhou to drew images of superheroes that could save the earth. In parallel, the artist organised an international web campaign and invited the public to submit drawings. Five drawings were selected and transformed into ceramic sculptures.

Wendy Gers, Curator of the First Central China International Ceramics Biennale. 

Parramasala worked with ceramic artist Vipoo Srivilasa to develop mascots for the 2017 festival.

There will be two mascot figures, with the first mascot unveiled at the Eat Street Vibes event in Parramatta on Saturday 5 November.  The second figure will be unveiled ahead of the March festival which runs 10-12 March 2017.

Vipoo sees the mascot as a giant porcelain doll decorated with blue and white colour. These colour has become one of the most popular ceramic style worldwide. With roots in the Islamic world and Asia, and strong presence in Europe and the Americas, various cultures adapted the colours to fit with their own style.

Vipoo uses the colours and the design as a way to bring different cultures together. He also combine the traditional ceramic style of history together with modern popular culture’s social media. The ‘V’ symbol is used in popular selfie social media culture and also represents a peaceful coming together of people.

The inflatable mascot is 7 meters high and is lit from within at night so it glows.

Parramasala will be held 10-12 March 2017 in Alfred Park Square and on the riverbank in Parramatta The Asian Arts festival includes music, dance, film , art, food and more. 

Beyond Limitations, is a four-week mentoring, cultural exchange program between Australian and Korean artists. The exchange program  consist of six leading ceramic artists: Vipoo Srivilasa, Janet DeBoos, Stephen Bird, Sung Jae Choi, Young-Sil Han and In-chin Lee, mentoring twelve early career artists  (not represented by commercial gallery) from both countries at the Gimhae Clayarch Museum, Korea from 20 July to 20 August, 2015. 

Beyond Limitations seeks to deepen the cross-cultural understanding of the art form and establish international ties predicated on the common appreciation for ceramics.

Linking Korean and Australian artists in collaboration is important in driving mutual understanding between the two divergent cultures, both historically and in today’s world where the importance of a cross-cultural global context is becoming increasingly essential.

Beyond Limitations is organised by an Australian ceramic artist,Vipoo Srivilasa, in partnership with Clayarch Gimhae Museum, Korea. The project is supported by the Australia-Korea Foundation and Australian Embassy Seoul 

As his migration from Thailand to Australia proves, a cross-culture experience is in Vipoo's blood; and it is his passion to share this experience with others.  

Partnering with Project Art in Cummington, Massachusetts, USA, Vipoo has been able to invite 7 American ceramic artists to participate in artKamp— a 2 week cultural exchange residency (23 Sep - 8 Oct 2014).

During the 2 week period, invited artists will be working on a common objective: creating a collaborative dinner set to be used for a farewell dinner at the end of the project. This common objective will unite the artists together and encourage collaboration between them. 

The exchange of culture and friendship will happen through working and living together, workshops, lectures, field trips and conversation over many meals.

“artKamp allows artists of all backgrounds and styles to work with, and alongside one another in a creatively rich environment. The project is designed to focus on making connections, sharing ideas and helping build an even more connected clay community.”

Mythology Meets Archetype is curated by Heather Nameth Bren, for the Northern Clay Centre exhibition program, featuring the artworks of Christie Brown (London, UK), Michelle Erickson (Yorktown, VA), Kelly Rathbone (Portland, OR), Bonnie Marie Smith (Kingston, NY), and Vipoo Srivilasa (Melbourne, AU), the exhibition responded to personal, cultural, and religious myths that have grown out of the desire to know (or the posture to know) the unknowable.

Vipoo Srivilasa was in residence at the Northern Clay Centre to create community-based work for the exhibition.

Prior to the exhibition opening, Srivilasa led a series of clay workshops during which local community members were invited to make creatures in clay. As Northern Clay Centre is in Minneapolis, a city abundant in lakes, wetlands, creeks and waterfalls, and the Mississippi River, participants were asked about mythical water creatures from their childhood or culture background and enforced to adapt their creature to site and aquatic life in Minneapolis. 

A special thanks to participants, including: third graders from North Park Elementary School, in the Columbia Heights School District; students from Luxton Park, Minneapolis; residents from Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Assisted Living Units, Onamia; and Northern Clay Centre students and artists.

Image courtesy of Northern Clay Center, photo by Peter Lee

Home, explores cultural shifts, community change experiences and the questions of what is a community and where does it start and finish?

For this piece, Vipoo Srivilasa led a ceramic workshop where members of the Korean community in Melbourne were invited to take part. Vipoo help them create a ceramic sculpture reflective of what they miss most about Korea. 

Inspired by their answers, Vipoo created works that respond to each of the participation’s sculpture. The works represent 4 elements of common community values, the artist learnt from the workshop - Family, Comunication, Culture and Connection. 

“Coral Project” draws attention to situations where coral reef is being invaded by the excessive consumerism culture of man.

Vipoo invite online community to send him pieces of trash containing the colour white and blue. He then help create small coral sculpture from the collected garbage. It symbolise the beauty of modern corals that is forced to reside side-by-side with the residue and trash resulting from human activities.

Thai-Na-Town – Little Oz is a project that celebrates Australia and Thailand’s diverse migrant populations by inviting people to create sculptural objects with the artist that represent what they miss about their home. Thai-na-town – Little Oz stems from a personal desire from the artist to engage with the multitude of stories of migrant experiences.

The artist conceived this as an ongoing project, of which Sydney where Vipoo worked with Thai expats, is the first iteration and Bangkok where Vipoo invites Australian expats and Australian alumni to take part, is the second.

The objects made were presented in the Thai-Na-Town – Little Oz exhibition at The Art Center, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok. The exhibition also featured Vipoo’s ceramic and mix media work which reflects what he misses about Thailand. Including the work that the artist corroborate with different community groups.

VDO of Thai-Na-Town - Little Oz in action http://vimeo.com/57977259

Thai Na Town - Little Oz is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia International Cultural Council, an initiative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Commonwealth through the Australia-Thailand Institute.

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Indigo Monsters is a collaborative project between Vipoo Srivilasa (Thai/Australia), Shin Koyama (Japan) and Pepijn van den Nieuwendijk (The Netherlands). It began in October 2010 when the three artists first met at the capital city of blue and white porcelain, Jingdezhen, China.

Using the exquisite corpse game technique, the artists created blue and white monster sections on paper and then posted them on to the next artist to add more sections, until the complete monster appears. 

Blue and white ceramic totems is a result of my Artist in School residency. The project involved young students to help me build this installation, using hand forming and blue and white painting technique. The idea is to give the children an opportunity to express their culture and personal identity in a collaborative group environment. It is an ongoing project as I often  approached by other school to build this totems installation.  

Creation is a collaboration between Sacred Heart Primary students, Francesca Frederic, Visual Arts Specialist Teacher and myself.

Continent is a collaboration between Scotch College Junior students, Priscilla Williams, Head of Junior Art and myself. 

Friendship Stones is a collaboration between Presbyterian Ladie's College students, Robin & Leigh Pitt, Head of the Art and myself. 

Roop-Rote-Ruang (Taste-Touch-Tell) Project is a series of dinner parties, hosted by the artist, at various private residences in Sydney.

At the dinner parties, Srivilasa present a new ceramic dinner set (105 pieces) on coral reef theme. The work unfold as the meal is consumed. The dinner project emphasises the role of ceramics in sensory experience, presenting an unfolding story in a four -course home cooked Thai meal, cook by the artist. The diner embraced the Buddhist concept of "Ayatana", the six channels of awareness. guests' sight, taste, smell, hearing, touch and mindfulness were all engaged as the ceramic story was revelled. Srivilasa also interested in creating opportunities for sharing between complete strangers and creating different, social ways of exploring complex ideas of his cross-cultural experience.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its art funding and advisory body.