Bio.
On marrying her husband in 2012, she left her academic pursuits to pursue a career in professional photography, a craft she continues to this day alongside her husband. This journey of professional creativity opened international opportunities, allowing them to travel and experience diverse cultures. These experiences sparked fresh inspiration and deepened her artistic focus, encouraging her to shift from oil on canvas to ink work on paper, a medium introduced to her by a close friend and accomplished artist. This shift ignited her creativity and proved practical for her itinerant lifestyle, especially while raising young children.
Her artistic journey was also shaped by her early years growing up in rural Australia, where she was immersed in the culture and art of the First Peoples of Australia. Their intricate patterns, storytelling through visual forms, and deep connection to the land left a lasting impression on her creative expression. Combined with her passion for ancient history and the art forms of past civilizations, she draws inspiration from patterns and designs that transcend time, infusing her work with a sense of continuity and connection to the human experience.
Now a mother of three, she resides in Penang, Malaysia, for a season of volunteer work and cultural exploration of her father’s heritage. Balancing the demands of child-raising with her creative pursuits, she embraces the rhythm of family life as a source of inspiration.
“You shall create beauty not to excite the senses but to give sustenance to the soul."
Gabriela Mistral
Process.
Shobana is inspired by the exposure to her multi cultural upbringing, her spiritually deep Christian faith and is fuelled by her strong desire to live in wonder. Her combined Indian Malaysian and Australian heritage gives her a freedom to explore colour and form in ways that come innately. Her freedoms are distinct and without question a key part of her dynamic and unique approach to her aesthetic.
She plays with mixing both the fluidity and translucent qualities of inks on paper with the harsher and established presence of gel ink, paint markers, gold leaf, pencils and pastels. Her compositions are layered, mixing materials to bring depth while also creating a lightness to the work that almost floats above the paper itself. Although she has already formed a unique visual voice with distinctive shaping, colour and form, her work continues to naturally evolve.
