Mona Choo Painter

Creating art is very much a part of who I am.

No matter how hard my conservative Singaporean-Chinese parents tried to ignore or quash my artistic abilities, I just kept making art because I couldn’t help it.

My art career took a convoluted path where I faced parental, societal, and cultural opposition in varying degrees ranging from strongly opposed to dead-against. So becoming an artist was, and still is, a challenge.

My art evolves as I do because it is predominantly a tool of expression. I realised therefore that creating art from my own experiences could be a powerful way to relate to other people. We bond through shared experiences.

Being in Tasmania is about having the mental room to tap into deeper parts of myself. The state is small enough that you feel you could eventually get to know it intimately, but large enough for everyone to have some personal space. And the sky is always accessible, the air is always nourishing, and I get to choose how I want to engage with the world. The world can be kept at arm’s length when necessary. That, to me, is luxury.

The fascination I have with consciousness has been the driving force behind all my work. From this single subject are offshoots into psychology, parapsychology, the paranormal, quantum theories, philosophy, spiritual practices, and everything to do with energy.