NATHAN BEARD
White Gilt and Siamese Smize
Antidote: A Festival of Ideas, Action & Change | Western Broadwalk
Thai-Australian artist Nathan Beard’s work places the sincere and intimate engagements with his family alongside broader cultural signifiers to generate creative slippages of identity. Inspired by the nuanced expressions for smiling within the Thai language, the series Siamese Smize manipulates found portraits from Beard’s family home in Thailand, interrogating the friendliness that prevails as a Thai stereotypes within a Western context. White Gilt is a series of works that unpack the cultural associations of various hand gestures in Thai culture. The artist’s hands, adorned with customised sets of nail extensions, engage with the complexities of cultural performance and authenticity.