We acknowledge the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the Country on which the Art Gallery of NSW stands.

Jason Phu On the bbq were a thousand thousand generic meat sausages that the hand of Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, calmly turned. She was unperturbed by the vicious spitting oil. Shaking her warm empty can she yelled out 'can someone get me a beer?'

acrylic on linen

250 x 180 cm

It was the worst house party I had ever been to. Cai Yan is sitting on the esky in the full sun without sunscreen, refusing anyone a beer. She is muttering to herself over and over, ‘I’ve seen harsher suns than this’. Laozi is passed out under a tree of worm-infested apricots. And some lady from Sichuan was chasing a hermit from the mountains around the house with a bamboo pole. The hermit was giggling uncontrollably, infuriating her even more. No-one could tell me why she was so angry or why he was giggling, only that they were both gatecrashers.

Jason Phu, 2018