Marikit Santiago shuffles through the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) in an off-the-shoulder Beare Park burgundy gown and a pair of hotel slippers.
“I feel like one of those gospel singers in Hercules,” the Filipino-Australian artist laughs, kicking up the hem of her dress. Behind her is a gaggle of crew – photographer, stylist, assistants, publicists – plus her husband Shawn Pearl and their three children: daughters Maella, 9, and Sari, 5, and 7-year-old son Santi Mateo, rattling a toy snake in his hand. When the family takes its position in the Grand Courts, standing contrapposto among the 19th-century sculptures, they look like myths themselves: mother and brood in the spotlight, casting shadows along the floor.
This isn’t how Santiago usually spends her Thursday mornings. A week later, the 39-year-old is back to her usual routine in her studio in Sydney’s Parramatta. She appears on Zoom in a white T-shirt and glasses. Santi peeks his head over her shoulder before she shoos him away. “I’m working on this right now,” she explains, swivelling the camera around to
