Last Updated: Sunday, May 31 2026

Maria Thaddea

A cheeky little sentiment*

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Works

from all the eldest daughters before me; LOST IN TRANSLATION THROUGH MOTHER TONGUES

2026

Glazed ceramics, incense, plywood, jasmine tea-dyed textile

44 x 40 x 160cm

An ongoing exploration into ancestral veneration

An altar cabinet of sorts

from an eldest daughter.

of an eldest daughter,

of an eldest daughter,

of an eldest daughter

Made of muddled layers of patterns learnt, misconstrued and understood

Through lines said, left unsaid and read between

Of different mothers, mother-tongues

- equal parts familiar and dissonant

Patterns carved into being

Perfect valleys to bear blame

To let nestle - to accommodate

always

to bear till overflow

from all the eldest daughters before me

2025

Glazed ceramics & incense

8 x 8 x 33cm

I am here – from all the oldest daughters before me.
A cheeky little princess from a long line of oldest daughters.
Though I am not where or who they were – I am an amalgamation of their stories and cultures passed down through mother-tongues.

An interpretation of ancestral veneration – a version concocted through the eyes of a cheeky little princess, all grown up, as she pulls from a hodgepodge of childhood cultural memories of playing tjongklak, ancestral prayer tables at ama’s and longevity bowls.

A rose-tinted frilly façade of homage hiding an innate fear of diasporic cultural blurring.

Shown in:

"Small Works Art Prize 2026", Brunswick Street Gallery, Melbourne, VIC (2026)

K(NOT) QUITE A LIL DRAGON LADY

2025

Glazed ceramics, cotton cord, mulberry paper, found wood, found textiles & foil

Dimensions variable (installation)

a reflective amalgamate of bastardised cultural references and stereotypes

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Warkop Nyonyah

2025

Glazed ceramics, incense, cigarettes, metal table, plastic stools

Dimensions variable (installation)

Indonesia’s humble little neighbourhood coffee shop [warkop]
– a place for men to gather and fraternise – is reinterpreted through the rose-tinted eyes of a cheeky little transnational princess.

She imagines the space and all its paraphernalia as a ladies’ tea party.
Or, in this case, a coffee party.

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Knotty Little Charmers*

2025

Glazed ceramics & cotton chord
+/- 35 x 5 x 180 (each)

Ironically big boy ceramic tassel charms for what really matters to diasporic babies; charms for longevity beachy bums and to ward off mosquitos

[L-R]: 'For good fortune'
'Longevity peachy bums'
'To ward off mozzies'

Shown in:
“I AM HERE”, Burwood Art Prize, Sydney, NSW (2026)

"Reverberation", Gallery Lane Cove, Sydney, NSW (2025) [group exhibition]

Tamagotchiboo

2024

Glazed ceramics

10 x 10 x 2cm

an Ode to Copper Carb

a set of tiles glazed with my beloved, my chemical compound, my copper carbonate

Knick-knacks; buttons

2024

Glazed ceramics

A platonic, strings attached, typa thing

2024

Glazed ceramics & cotton chord

40 x 7 x 180cm

a subconscious longing - against all better judgement - for longevity; strings attached, all wrapped, tangled and knotted

Shown in:

"Double Happiness", Kudos Offsite, Haymarket, NSW (2024) [group exhibition]

[i love you]

2024

Screenprint on 220gsm Cartridge paper

25 x 50cm (x3)

Love passed down through mother tongues,

tasted - fairly unheard

‘I love you’s implied between lines of cut fruit

All that’s left are nectar stains,

a subtle shimmer - almost out of view

Shown in:

"More Than Reproduction Edition Six", Our Neon Foe, Sydney, NSW (2025) [group exhibition]

K(NOT QUITE A DRAGON LADY