Sriwhana Spong (b. 1979, Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand) is an artist based in London, UK. Drawing on the ecstatic practices of female mystics, Spong produces scripts of her body that document in various media the oscillations of distance and intimacy produced by her approach toward another – most recently, a rat nesting outside her window; a newly discovered species of snake; a painting by her grandfather, the Balinese painter I Gusti Made Rundu; and a twelfth-century Javanese poem. These encounters spark journeys, where experiential knowledge, autobiography, fiction and systematic research produce films, sculptures, performances and reorientations. Her recent solo exhibitions include Oceanic Feeling (with Maria Taniguchi), ICA, Singapore (2016); having-seen-snake, Michael Lett, Auckland, New Zealand (2017); A hook but no fish, Pump House Gallery, London, UK (2018); castle-crystal, Edinburgh Arts Festival, Edinburgh, UK (2019); and Ida-Ida Spike Island, Bristol, UK (2019). Spong’s recent group exhibitions include Honestly Speaking, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand (2020); Trust and Confusion, Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong (2021); The 10th Walters Prize, Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand (2021) and Live Art Commissions, The Roberts Institute of Art, London, UK (2022).
