ELYSHA REI
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River Geisha, 2019
As part of the Brisbane Street Art Festival 2019
Howard Smith Wharves, Brisbane, Queensland.

This work is part of my painted geisha series featuring suggestive self-portraits painted in a ukiyo-e style of Japanese prints. Fully recovered from 12 months of intensive treatment for breast cancer, the Brisbane Street Art Festival in March 2019 marked the point in time where I felt I was fit and able to return to large mural painting. Following on from a series of warrior portrait created during my chemotherapy sessions in 2018, this portrait features a Geisha with hair grown back, holding the locks of golden hair out exactly one year before this work was painted. She is wearing a kimono inspired by my mother's wedding kimono patterns, but instead of cranes the birds are switched with Ibis (or bin chickens) - an iconic Brisbane bird. Green patterns in the kimono fabric feature the medical symbol for 'cytotoxic' - the state you're in when you're in active treatment with chemotherapy. The temporary site for this work was poignant for me, as my mother, the first baby born to a Japanese war bride in Queensland, was rushed in an ambulance across the Story Bridge (in the background) as a premature infant, stopping the Queen in her procession to get to the hospital on time.
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  • home
  • gallery
    • paper cuts >
      • 余白の美: Yohaku no bi (the beauty of empty space)
      • paper cut series
      • paper cut installations
    • public art >
      • Wilston Village Precinct 2020
      • Milton Patterns 2019
      • Brisbane Street Art Festival 2019
      • Window of Worship 2019
      • The River's Embrace 2018
      • Cathedral Square 2017
      • William Jolly Bridge 2017
      • First Coat 2017
      • Grand Central Culture Wall 2017
      • Traffic Signal Box 2016
      • Vibrant Laneways 2016
      • BrisAsia Festival 2016
      • UnFramed, Coolum 2015
      • Thailand Paste-Ups 2014
      • Real People Real Stories 2013
      • Animals with Attitude 2012
    • portraits >
      • portrait drawings
      • portrait paintings
  • about
    • about
    • contact
  • shop
    • Original Works
    • Fine Art Prints
    • art commissions + consultancy