SAVANHDARY VONGPOOTHORN arrived in Australia from Laos in 1979 when she was 8 years old. Since she began exhibiting in 1992 her work has gained considerable attention, winning her numerous prizes and public recognition. Savanhdary creates her exquisite paintings by puncturing the surface of her canvas with a soldering iron and gradually building up layers of paint from the front and back of the canvas. The plurality of influences on both the textures and imagery in her work range widely from Lao textiles to high modernism, the Australian landscape and Aboriginal art. She has exhibited in galleries across Australia and internationally and her work also features in prestigious corporate and public collections. She is represented by Martin Browne Fine Art, Sydney and Niagara Galleries, Melbourne.

Savanhdary's work in <abstractions> was curated by Mandy Thomas.