Artist Bio | alaparedes-art

Artist Statement

Working mainly in watercolour, Ala Paredes examines her relaionship with cultural tradition and inherited memory through portraiture. Her work explores themes of transplantation, utilising familiar elements from religious iconography, and her traditional Filipino up-bringing.

Inspired by the radical spiritual disciplines of Japanese Buddhist monks, Paredes committed to completing a body of of work consisting of one self-portrait a day for 365 days with the aim of exploring repetition as a path to enlightenment, or a “beginner’s mind”.

“Where the creative process is often depicted as being ruled by the fleeting forces of passion

and inspiration, I wanted to explore the role of repetition. Where art is often relegated to the

realm of the great and mysterious, I wanted to take it down to the routine and mundane in the

hope of discovering what rushes in to fill the void when passion and inspiration are not present.”

In 2010, Ala received international publicity as a courtroom sketch artist for the high-profile Ampatuan Murder Trial in Manila.

She is an annual participant at the Chalk Pavement Art Festival and took home the prize for Best Novice in 2010.

Ala is a resident artist at May Street Studios, St. Peters, Sydney.