Dragon lady thanks her lucky start and throws it all into the mix

Kate Beynon is a firm believer in luck. After all, she was born in Kowloon ('nine dragons') at nine o'clock on the ninth day of the ninth month.

But even with such an auspicious birth date (nine has connotations of everlasting), luck can always use a helping hand. So Beynon, an Australian artist who is fast winning an international reputation, integrates Chinese characters and symbols that promote good luck, positive energy and protective spirits into her work.

Her latest work, on show at the Melbourne Art Fair 2006 today , includes paintings on the theme Luck, Auspiciousness, Good Fortune and Energy. These cross racial, cultural and language boundaries. Even time is fluid, with figures inspired by Chinese fables and mythology having a mixed-race appearance and clad in streetwear.

Beynon, 36, was born in Hong Kong to a Chinese-Malaysian mother and a Welsh father. From Hong Kong, the family moved to Singapore, Germany and England, before settling in Melbourne, where Beynon grew up and eventually trained at the Victorian College of the Arts.

'They just wanted a fresh start. Being a mixed couple in those days was not common and they wanted to try somewhere new,' she says.

Although her connection with Hong Kong may sound fleeting, Beynon was raised with strong links to Asia and Chinese culture - links now reflected in her work.