Marikit Santiago is one of Australia's most impressive artists, combining a skilful representational painting technique with powerful imagery.



Mythology, Disney, her Filipino heritage, religion, guilt, motherhood and family are examples of the subject matter she draws from and her upcoming show, 'For us sinners' at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Sydney, is set to contain some of the most impactful work she has produced to date.



What's equally striking is the contrast between her painting style and the surface on which she often chooses to paint: found cardboard, typically in the form of flattened packing boxes complete with rips, creases and packing tape!



Marikit won the Art Gallery of NSW's Sulman prize in 2020 with her work ‘The Divine’, a painting of her three children who were also her collaborators. We talk in this episode about how they contribute to her practice and why that collaboration is so important to her work.



Apart from winning the Sulman, Marikit has been a finalist in many other prizes including the Archibald prize twice.  She has exhibited in 6 solo shows and her upcoming exhibition at 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art is her first institutional show. It is curated by Micheal Do and opens on 26 March 2022.



We recorded this conversation in Marikit's garage studio with her stunning recent work, Thy Kingdom Come, leaning precariously against the easel. Rich with cultural and religious symbolism, as well as quite a few cartoon characters, the complex painting had been finished the day before our interview, after nine months' work.



To hear the podcast episode click 'play' beneath the above feature photo.



Scroll down for a short video of Marikit in her studio from the Talking with Painters YouTube channel .



Current and upcoming exhibition



Solo exhibition 'For us sinners', 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, 26 March to 15 May 2022 Archibald Prize 2021, currently showing at Cowra Regional Art Gallery, NSW, until 1 May 2022



Links



Marikit SantiagoMarikit Santiago on Instagram Egon SchieleRodel TapayaJojit SolanoBalikbayan BoxAida Tomescu video




https://youtu.be/C2hpafMF09g




Thy Kingdom Come, 2021 – 2022, interior paint, acrylic, oil, pyrography, pen, gold leaf on found cardboard (pen and paint markings by Santi Mateo Santiago and Sarita Santiago), collaboration with Maella Santiago, 167cm x 307cm. Courtesy of the artist and The Something Machine, Bellport, New York. Photo credit: Garry Trinh



Tagsibol/tagsabong, 2019, acrylic, oil, pyrography, pen and paint on found cardboard144.5 x 214 cmFinalist, Sulman Prize, 2019, Art Gallery of NSW



Filipiniana (self-portrait in collaboration with Maella Santiago Pearl), acrylic, interior paint, pen and oil on found cardboard110.5 x 100.7 cmPhoto: Garry TrinhFinalist Archibald Prize AGNSW 2021



The divine, acrylic, oil, pen, pyrography and 18ct gold leaf on ply179.5 x 120.5 cmWinner Sir John Sulman Prize, AGNSW, 2020



The Serpent and the Swan, 2021, interior paint, acrylic, pyrography, oil and Dutch metal gold leaf on found cardboard, 162cm x 77cm x 2cm.Photo: Garry Trinh



The Serpent and the Swan, 2021 interior paint, acrylic, pyrography, oil and Dutch metal gold leaf on found cardboard, 162cm x 77cm x 2cm.Photo: Garry Trinh