Datsun Tran

Sunshine Coast National Art Prize 2026 - Finalist

_{Image courtesy of artist.}

Datsun Tran
SA

Ghost forest
2026
Bushfire ink and joss sticks on mulberry paper
87  x 116cm

I grew up on Wurundjeri lands, but I was raised in a Chinese household with many rituals honouring ancestors and gods. Whether it was the Hungry Ghost Festival or the Lunar New Year, joss sticks were a constant presence. The rising smoke from joss sticks carry the prayers and offerings of the living to the dead.

Currently, I live on Peramangk lands, and bushfires are a yearly threat. In the Summer of 2020/2021, a blaze tore through nearby Cherry Gardens and we evacuated for safety. After the fire, I collected the charcoal from burnt out trees to make the ink I used to paint this work.

I also used joss sticks to burn into the paper as a tribute to the flora and fauna that perished during those fires. Thus, combining my family’s cultural ritual of connection and prayers to the dead, with the lands in which I now live.