KSBDA _Kuala Lumpur International Invitational Exhibition _Dec 2016

City of Dreams

Mixed Media: Indian Ink on acrylic sheet, Batik on fabric mounted on paper

40 x 40 cm

2016
The 'Invisible Cities' series

Digital City

Mixed Media on paper and fabric

29.7 x 42 cm

2016
The 'Invisible Cities' series

Hidden City

Mixed Media on paper and fabric

29.7 x 42 cm

2016
The 'Invisible Cities' series

Layers of Mysterious Past

Mixed Media on paper and fabric

29.7 x 42 cm

2016/2017

This painting depicts the historical past of what might have been.  In different cultures and moments of past time one will be able to find interesting narratives hidden beneath it.

One Fine Autumn Day

 Mixed Media on paper and fabric

29.7 x 42 cm

2017

This painting tells the stories of my memories of the four seasons, in particular during the Autumn.

Artist's Talk

My paintings can be explained from two different levels. The first level is about sketching and the second one is about the exploration of traditional textile dying technique. The inspiration on the sketches is based on a quote by Italo Calvino:

‘A person’s life consists of a collection of events, the last of which could also change the meaning of the whole, not because it counts more than the previous ones but because once they are included in a life, events are arranged in an order that is not chronological but, rather, corresponds to an inner architecture.’

My collection of sketches grows together with my life journey through experiencing buildings and spaces to express a personal emotion or idea.  These translate my sketches into imaginative “invisible cities”.

Subsequently, the experiment with traditional textile is stem from a few techniques such as batik chanting, batik wood block printing and shibori (tie and dye). Through these techniques, I have created different kinds of interesting marks and colours on fabrics.

Seeing from the above two levels of artistic processes, I have constructed my sketches and fabric experiments in different time and space. Initially, they seem to have no relationship with each other. After that I have deconstructed these sketches and marks from the textile to recreate them to produce other stories or meaning. The entire process of creation speaks about my collective experiences with the everyday life. Thus, I seek to culminate an intuitive communion with the natural world, which is the very essence of my work.