Vipoo Srivilasa
(b. 1969, Bangkok, Thailand. Lives and works in Melbourne)

Vipoo Srivilasa is a Thai-born artist who has been based in Melbourne since 1997. Working predominantly with porcelain but also creating works on paper, mixed media sculptures, bronze statues and large-scale public art pieces, Srivilasa often incorporates food and interactive performance into his ceramic projects. His practice frequently explores cross-cultural and migration experiences, with a playful, contemporised blend of European historical figurines and Asian decorative art.

Elarat / Ela, 2022, is a vessel inspired by the spirit of Elarat, a character from Thai literature dating back 130 years. According to the artist, Elarat is fluid in gender and sexuality, one month known as Elarat, a male figure, and the next known as Ela, a female. The character is part of the epic Rāmāyana. In Srivilasa’s vessel for Melbourne Now, Elarat is depicted in both forms, adorned with Dungowan bush tomato flowers – a unique Australian plant species that flips between the male and female sex.

Srivilasa completed a Bachelor of Art (Ceramics) from Rangsit University, Bangkok in 1994; a Graduate Diploma of Arts (Ceramics) at Monash University, Melbourne in 1997; and a Master of Fine Art and Design at the University of Tasmania, Hobart in 1998. Throughout a career spanning two decades, he has exhibited extensively in Australia and overseas, including at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Saatchi Gallery, London; Ayala Museum, Philippines; Yingge Ceramics Museum, Taiwan; Nanjing Arts Institute, China; and the National Gallery of Thailand. His work is held in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Shepparton Art Museum and the Craft Council, United Kingdom. In 2021 he was named Ceramic Artist of the Year by Ceramics Monthly and Pottery Making Illustrated, The American Ceramic Society, United States.