EMBRACEART

At the turn of the millennium, Ashika and I married and merged our creative expressions, giving birth to Embraceart Studio. At the time, the art business required artists to have no direct contact with buyers unless at an opening or upon explicit request. Our creations were like our children, and not knowing where and with whom they would live bothered us both. This internal conflict sparked the need to shift our orientation from gallery protocols and venture into the unknown.

We longed to open our own studio, leave the hectic city life behind, and live surrounded by nature, which so inspired us. We moved to the countryside and began promoting our work in art magazines, creating a direct sales channel to the people who loved it. A following developed through ads in fine art magazines and articles, which resonated with the public. The Asia Art Society of Australia published an article about me, and in the same year, Ashika’s work was featured in the highly regarded landscape and architecture magazine InDesign. We married in 2001 and never looked back, and thanks to Jo Maindonald and Robert Joyce from Kazari, the National Gallery of Victoria displayed both of our works at the entrance of the exhibition Spring Flowers, Autumn Grasses: The Spirit of Nature in Asian Art.