It marked the beginning of a spontaneous and organic style. Years later, she moved to live in the country and found artistic inspiration in her garden.

'My world was beautiful, with wild roses on a hillside, daisies, big red raspberries, bee balm, hummingbirds and butterflies,' the now Beijing-based Hudak writes in a statement for her upcoming show, Garden Helices. 'As there is drama in everything that creates and sustains life, soon I had a wild, weedy grapevine exploring the underside of my garden.' But the vine eventually strangled her roses and daisies, she says, binding them to the ground until they were nothing more than withered sticks. 'I spent many hours observing this vine, learning its paths and its habits. I pursued it, cut it, poisoned it, and even tried to burn it.'

Today, it's the vines that she remembers. The artist now incorporates a sense of their resilience and strength into her drawings, which are both figurative and symbolic.

'I am trying to create a place that makes sense within itself, but where I am not necessarily in control of the outcome,' Hudak says. 'The drawings refer to an internal garden - a landscape made up of the networks of tubes and passages inside of us. The paths appear to be smooth, but they are filled with tension. You don't quite know what will happen next.'

5 Prince's Terrace, Mid-Levels, Tues to Sun, 11am to 8pm. Meet the artist at the opening tomorrow between 6pm and 8pm