Artist Fei Gao reflects on his newly commissioned performance work The Path, which premiered at Parramatta Lanes 2024.

In conversation with Nithya Nagarajan, Curator and Artist Development, Parramatta Artists Studios.

Nithya Nagarajan: Tell us about the genesis of your new work The Path, which recently premiered at Parramatta Lanes 2024. What formed the original idea and inspiration for the work?

Fei Gao: The Path is a new work I developed from The Abyss, which I made last year and was the first costume I made for The Path. The Abyss is kind of emo because I was personally going through just a very dark time, but it was then that I contemplated the idea of making costumes based on migration journeys. Because I do think these times are very challenging and people just have to put on an armour or an alternate persona for them to navigate this psychologically complex phase of their lives

So I think that was the original idea but for The Path I really wanted to expand that to include other people's experiences and see how that all hums together.  

NN: Great! So how did you go about choosing your collaborators? And what do you think are the key ingredients for a good collaboration?  

FG: Honestly, I just love to work with my friends. I think I'm someone that tends to work well with people that I somehow know, or, at least, know of. And especially in this case, I didn’t just hire them as dancers or performers, – it was a more collaborative process that required their contribution, their story, and their faith, because the work is about migrants forming new communities. The artists themselves are actually communities of people that I know of from PARI, which is an artist-run initiative in Parramatta and, for me at least, a very important meeting point for the artist community [in Western Sydney]. They also all come from different walks of life and I really cherish their different journeys to be here today. So the diversity of stories they represent and how quickly we could form trust were the building blocks of the collaboration. This to me is what Parramatta is about.  

We built a feedback loop into every stage. Each step of interviewing my collaborators, sourcing the materials, sketching the designs, constructing the costumes, building the soundtrack, developing the movement arc really had a ‘togetherness’ in process so everyone’s signature could be felt in the final work. I also want to be honest – I don’t think any collaborative process is perfect. It’s important to acknowledge the tensions, not avoid them, but actually address them so we could build the elements of rupture and repair into the process of making work, particularly around delicate themes. 

NN: Now take us behind the scenes. What were the different stages of developing The Path?

FG: I think I'm a feeling type of artist. This work was borne from a point where I was feeling quite isolated and frustrated with the [Australian] immigration system and therefore at times I would just listen to music and really let it out. And some of this music really is very expressive and I feel like I can see a kind of character dancing in my head. And then I would kind of articulate that character and how I wanted their story represented in the work. In The Path, that looked like carefully considered symbols that could be interpreted through different people’s stories.  

For instance, some of the costuming elements are like standing out from the environment because the immigration system wants you to assimilate. But it was like no, migrants should be celebrated for who they are and to stand out for their autonomy. Another element I learned from working with performers is the permeability of communities – communities are people that come and go so that forms some of the choreographic threads of the work.  

[I’ve also learned] about socialising, finding directions, taking up opportunities when they come –  these all inform the undercurrents of the work. And I tried to translate them through costumes, imagery, movement and score, but this process of piecing it all together is still very new to me.

NN: How has this commission then expanded you as an artist?

FG: I think it’s been a lot of professional development from people I really admire, like Justin Shoulder and HOSSEI. I’ve had curatorial input from you and the PAS team, who also found me a studio space. A studio space really expands your practice, and it is the first time I’ve done anything remotely as collaborative. Team management is something I’m coming to grips with as well. I never really used to see myself as a leader, but this commission has really highlighted to me the power of working together and the beauty in leading a team to achieve a creative vision. 

NN: What do you hope for the Lanes audience to take away from The Path?  

FG: I wish maybe it could help people to reflect on past journeys they've been through because I think a lot of people who come to Lanes would have gone through similar experiences of migration or displacement. I really want people to look back on it and think about, you know, who you are in those times, who you are friends with, what kind of communities you step into when you arrive in Australia and what helped you or didn’t help you in those times. I just wanted us to take a moment to celebrate these journeys, often hard struggles, and [know that] even in these times we find each other, we build each other up and we grow through these adversities. In these times, what people don’t often realise is, we shine.