Shibori Shibari 3

This work is an exploration of the concepts of shibori and shibari. Both practices have a distinctive set of rules, that explore the relationship between restriction and beauty. The still life scene is a blend of the wild and expressive natural world alongside man-made objects such as beer bottles. Many of my works are explorations of self as I look within myself at the elements that define who I am, both those that liberate and those that restrict. In a sense, I'm trying to find acceptance and peace in the struggle of piecing these parts of self together.

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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.