Give That Plant An Asahi

A hard-earned thirst needs a big cold beer. I was intrigued to explore the universal culture of beer drinking. It's used as a means of socialising and relaxing with predominantly masculine undertones. I wanted to take it out of this context and compare it with other mindfulness practices such as meditation or communing with nature. What healthy ways exist for men to commune and unwind in ways that aren't toxic.

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Pitok is a visual artist based in Sydney’s inner west. Having graduated from UNSW Art & Design (formerly the College of Fine Arts, Sydney), he has worked as a Visual Designer and Art Director commercially for the last 20 years. Since 2015 he has been creating personal painted works using gouache.

Pitok utilises still life scenes, as a means of enshrining personal objects. These objects are totems that tie us to a time and place. A memory, a person, an experience, a moment we cannot return to that has passed. These still life scenes represent the spaces we construct around us as an extension of our identity.

Drawing from the traditions of modernist painters such as Margaret Preston, and ukiyo-e woodblock prints, his works are an exploration of self-identity, a connection with the natural world, and an investigation into Australian and Japanese culture.

Pitok works in a studio space at Monster Mouse Studios, an artist collective in Marrickville, Sydney.