Starry Kong
Melbourne

From Vincent van Gogh to Frida Kahlo, artists’ lives are often riddled with tragedy. These events can dominate or overshadow the brilliance of their artistry, provoking the erroneous belief that there is no genius without madness. Yet, for Melbourne-based photographer Starry Kong, whose works capture the inner light of the mundane, it is not pain that inspires creativity, but her resilience to overcome it.

Having struggled with depression for over a decade, Kong finds solace in capturing the everyday, from quiet neighborhoods to ephemeral bubbles. Yet, like van Gogh’s use of saturated colors—which are more a reflection of the artist’s emotional state than a faithful representation of reality—Kong employs digital editing software to accentuate her images’ ethereality and present worlds filled with wonder. In her emphasis on light and color, each photograph thus resists darkness, both literally and figuratively.