BASA Pilar - Living with Koalas

100 Artworks for a Koala entry by Pilar BASA. Title: ‘ Not quite the Same Thing ‘ – Gouache with pigment marker on paper

Pilar BASA

Illustrator, designer & breakfast lover, based in Sydney, Australia.

“I create my minds musings and tell stories.”

100 Artworks for a Koala entry: Title: ‘ Not Quite the Same Thing ‘

Size: W 29cm x H 33cm | Medium: Gouache with pigment marker on paper

‘Anything other than the original is never quite as good, it is never quite the same thing. With all the advances in human society and technology life seems to move so fast, but what will we leave in our wake? The bushfires of 2019 to 2020 were of a degree Australia has never seen, the impact on our native flora and fauna, immeasurable. Koalas, insects, countless plant species, there are too many to count. With so much focus on ourselves, what will we be able to save of our precious environment. Are glass specimen jars and museum displays the best we can hope for?’ Pilar BASA

Artist bio / art shows

Pilar BASA: “Sprouting in Sydney, Australia I grow up in a very culturally diverse family. A Polish Mother and my father from the Philippines, I am a child of Australia. Having studied design at the University of New South Wales, I took my skills and loves to New York where I lived and worked for 5 years as a designer and illustrator. As the years, the hours, the moments went by, the buildings got too high, my skin felt too little sun and she missed the vivid blues and greens of home. So home to Sydney I came, where I now create from my roots on sun burnt soil and experiences of home with wide eyes and an open heart. Sustainability, nature, exploration of culture, shared human experience and love for all are the central themes in all of my art. Growing up in a limbo of cultures, my current practice in Australia seeks to better understand the cultural quilt that is our landscape and how the unique environment of this sunburnt soil enhances this beautifully enigmatic existence.

I work primarily with illustration and painting. From gouache, acrylics, water, pigments markers and anything I can find in my draw, I create my minds musings and tell stories.”

Artist exhibitions

artist exhibitions – solo & group

2020 – Plants – Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney

2020 – 12×12 – Stockroom Gallery – Melbourne

2019 – Sydney Children’s Hospital

2019 – Sydney KRVNM – Group Show

2019 – The Other Art Fair – Solo exhibit in fair setting, Sydney

2019 – Hot ‘n Heavy – Group Show , Sydney

2018 – The Other Art Fair – Solo exhibit in fair setting, Sydney

2018 – HOUT : Illustrators Australia – Group Show, Melbourne

2018 – The Other Art Fair – Solo exhibit in fair setting, Melbourne

2011- Pennies for the Ferryman: Group Show Sydney