Solo show: Savanhdary Vongpoothorn - bindi dot tartan zen (over)

	Couching, 2002, Acrylic on perforated canvas 150 x 180cm

Niagara Galleries Niagara Galleries 245 Punt Road 3121 Richmond, VIC Australia (city map) Send E-mail tel +61 (0)3 - 9429 3666 www.niagara-galleries.com.au

Since first exhibiting in Sydney in 1992, Savanhdary Vongpoothorn has been named one of Australia´s 50 most collectable artists and one of the new generation of Australian prodigies to watch [Weekend Australian, Jan 2000].

Savanhdary creates her exquisite paintings by puncturing the surface of her canvas with pin pricks and gradually building up layers of paint from the front and back of the work. Her influences range from Laotian textiles and Buddhist mandalas to the Australian landscape and Aboriginal art.

Savanhdary was born in Laos in 1971 and arrived in Australia with her parents when she was 8 years old. She returned to Laos for the first time in 1996 and until then, her childhood there had been "more like a dream than a reality." The winner of six art prizes, and a Moet & Chandon finalist in 1998 Savanhdary´s work also features in prestigious corporate collections such as the Macquarie Bank and Allen, Allen & Hemsley.