Art After Hours Online: Marikit Santiago in conversation with Benjamin Law

Working from her home studio in Parramatta, artist Marikit Santiago doesn’t let her three young children get under her feet – she gets them involved with her painting. Marikit is the winner of this year’s Sir John Sulman Prize, and her subject was her family; her tender depictions of them entwined with Filipino and Christian symbols, along with some marks made by the children themselves.

Marikit’s work is both a celebration of family love and a talisman for the future, representing the hope and promise we invest in the next generation. Tonight, Benjamin Law asks the artist how she navigates the tensions that exist within her multiple identities as a Filipina, an Australian, a mother and an artist – and what it’s like working with her kids.

Art After Hours Online is presented with the support of the Art Gallery Society of NSW and Macquarie University.