The Senator and Ma

The Senator and Ma portrays Penny Wong in her two roles. The first, as the public figure Senator Wong, a well-known politician, she is depicted on the left of the canvas with her arms open wide, gaze confronting the audience, confidently posing a question. Secondly, to the right of the canvas, and slightly behind is Penny Wong as a mother, her relaxed stance and attire show her in a happy moment with her daughter.

Wong’s full-lengthen portrait stands firmly on a charred and blackened land. In the foreground is the identifiable Senate seating plan as red volcanic craters in a barren landscape. The Senators small red chair seats alone facing outward and empty, revealing how uncomfortable the subject is with power. The theatrical darkened background is Mount Kinabalu the Wong’s home in Malaysia. Between the two portraits is a lightened rocky path leading to a dark abyss. Which as Wong stated: “there is hope.”

Painted by Dr. Tianli Zu who is an Australian multimedia artist with a PhD from the Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney. Zu has a diverse practice making large-scale papercuts, sculpture, painting, animation and installation exploring dualities, light and shadow, yin and yang, time and space.

This is a revealing dual-portrait that shows much about its subject and potentially the state of our country.