Known for his representational painting, Meriam and Yupungathi man Christopher Bassi engages with the medium as a means to address issues surrounding cultural identity, alternative genealogies and colonial legacies within Australia and the South Pacific. Through critical re-imagining, his paintings become a space for speculative storytelling that considers questions of history, place and the entanglement of personal and collective experiences. Tropical flora is a recurring subject in Christopher’s works, used as symbols to speak of shared climates, cross-cultural experiences and shifting ideas of home, place and belonging. Based in Meanjin/Brisbane, Christopher has exhibited widely across Queensland and his works are held in a number of institutional collections within Australia.
Chris’ self portrait A Piece of the Continent, a Part of the Main speaks to cross-cultural experiences and shifting ideas of home, place and belonging.
