Skip to main content
Menu

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders both past and present.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are warned that this website contains images of deceased persons.

Pamela See (Xue Mei-Ling)

Born: 1979, Brisbane
Works: Brisbane

Pamela See
Video: 5 minutes 22 seconds

Artist statement

In this series, …Making Chinese Shadows, I am investigating the lives of 16 Chinese-Australians who persevered and flourished prior to the advent of the White Australia Policy. The title is a reference to the eighteenth century work The origin of painting: A family making ‘Chinese Shadows’, created by German painter Johann Eleazer Schenau. The painting makes a connection between the traditions of silhouette portraiture and Chinese papercutting.

I have embraced both. The compositions juxtapose ‘indexical’ silhouette portraiture with Chinese papercut florals and effigies. (The inception of the latter technique predates the invention of modern pulp-strained paper in 105 CE.) My technique resembles Foshan papercutting, which is endemic to the birthplace of my maternal grandparents, Guangdong Province.

1 Wat A Che, 2017. 2 Jimmy Ah Foo, 2017. Both Pamela See. © Pamela See

My choice of subjects represents the contribution of Chinese-Australians across a broad range of industries. They include maritime captain Ah Gim; interpreter Wat a Che; publican Jimmy Ah Foo; and Tim Sang, a carpenter, the series subject with the earliest date of arrival in Australia, 1836. Noting 1911 Commonwealth census figures showing Chinese men outnumbered women 20,453 to 322, my series also includes pre-federation Chinese women: herbalist Mrs Lup Mun; Lula, matriarch of the Chinn family; and Emma Tear Tack.

1 Mrs Lup Mun, 2017. 2 Lula Chinn, 2017. Both Pamela See. © Pamela See

I had a long-held misconception that the Chinese community in Australia burgeoned during the mid-eighties. I was not aware that, during the nineteenth century – in some areas of Australia – Chinese settlers outnumbered their European counterparts ten to one, with only half eventually repatriated to China. Over the past decade there has been a proliferation of literature revisiting the contribution of the Chinese community in Australian history, attaching a greater, commensurate level of acknowledgment. With …Making Chinese Shadows, I am contributing to this dialogue.

Video transcript

12 portraits

1 Yip Hoy, 2017. 2 Captain Ah Gim, 2017. 3 Chang Woo Gow, 2017. 4 Tim Sang, 2017. All Pamela See. © Pamela See

Related people

Pamela See

© National Portrait Gallery 2024
King Edward Terrace, Parkes
Canberra, ACT 2600, Australia

Phone +61 2 6102 7000
ABN: 54 74 277 1196

The National Portrait Gallery acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuing connection to lands, waters and communities. We pay our respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and to Elders past and present. We respectfully advise that this site includes works by, images of, names of, voices of and references to deceased people.

This website comprises and contains copyrighted materials and works. Copyright in all materials and/or works comprising or contained within this website remains with the National Portrait Gallery and other copyright owners as specified.

The National Portrait Gallery respects the artistic and intellectual property rights of others. The use of images of works of art reproduced on this website and all other content may be restricted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (Cth). Requests for a reproduction of a work of art or other content can be made through a Reproduction request. For further information please contact NPG Copyright.

The National Portrait Gallery is an Australian Government Agency