Finding Home in Hidden Places: An Interview with Serena Pham

Serena Pham’s paintings invite us into quiet, hidden places where we can pause, wander inward and discover something of our own. After meeting Serena at the Inner West Art Fair, I was glad to hear more about the walks, memories, music and unexpected moments that find their way into her work.

Artist bio

Serena Pham is a painter of quiet, hidden places. Guided by curiosity and a willingness to let go of perfection, her paintings invite viewers to pause, wander inward and find something of their own within these worlds.

                                     

An interview with Serena Pham

Many of your paintings begin with a particular place or moment. How do your walks, travels and observations find their way into your work?

It usually happens when I decide to take a path I wouldn’t normally take. It might be an impromptu solo trip to Adelaide, a spontaneous night walk along Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, or simply waiting for a friend to get her nails done.

While waiting for my friend, I wandered through District 7 in Ho Chi Minh City to explore the homes and streets. I ended up following bright orange leaves that led me to an otherworldly home.

During these walks, I might come across a place that leaves me feeling curious or in awe. I’ll take a photo and feel the need to bring it home with me to paint.

In Called Home, you write about visiting Vietnam and feeling a deeper connection to your grandparents and your family’s roots. If you’re comfortable sharing, how did that experience shape the painting?

What shaped the painting was the love and warmth I felt from my grandparents. They reminded me that home can be a warm and comforting place, and that feeling found its way into the colours I chose. I painted the building with a warm glow, and I love that it’s a home, too.

Honestly, it was just really nice to paint something from the place where my parents were born.

                                             

Water and light appear in many of your works. What do these elements mean to you, or help you express?

I love water’s fluidity, movement and ever-changing qualities. There’s something about its flexibility that leaves endless room for exploration and imagination. It allows me to be freer with my brushstrokes, experiment and paint more expressively.

Light, on the other hand, has an otherworldly quality. In some paintings, it conveys a sense of comfort and safety within the darkness. In others, it feels like a connection to something spiritual, almost as though there’s another world beyond what we can see.

                                         

Music and movement have also inspired some of your work. How do they affect your brushstrokes, colours or the feeling of a painting?

It’s almost like I’m plugged into the music, and what I hear comes out through the tip of my brush. Sometimes a song feels dreamy or has glistening instrumentals that influence the direction of my painting. Other times, the music allows me to paint more freely, moving between multiple colours without stopping. There’s something almost cathartic about it.

There might be a moment when a singer holds a continuous phrase in one breath, and I find myself painting along with it, mixing a storm of colours and making uninterrupted brushstrokes. You can see this in my painting House Across the River, where the light reflections were influenced by the song “Ẩn Ý” by 1nG.

                                               

You describe yourself as a “recovering perfectionist.” Has your relationship with mistakes or unexpected changes in a painting shifted over time?

Painting requires taking risks, which can lead to mistakes that can’t always be undone. Sometimes I accidentally paint over parts of a painting that I really liked. This has been challenging for me, but also healing. I’m learning to be okay with making mistakes, and I’ve become kinder towards myself when they happen.

I’ve come to realise that mistakes are an important part of the process. They challenge us to move beyond our original decisions and can lead to unexpected discoveries.

One of my paintings, Steps to Let Go, is a good example. I experimented, made mistakes and almost gave up on it. But it ended up becoming one of my favourite paintings to this day.

Thank you, Serena, for sharing the places, memories and ideas behind your work.

Where to Find Serena’s Work

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About the Interviewer

This interview is part of an ongoing artist conversation series hosted on my website, where I share insights from contemporary artists exploring landscape, abstraction, and emotional storytelling through art.

If you’d like to explore more artist interviews, studio insights, and my own abstract landscape works, you can visit:
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