Artist view on three exhibition highlights:
1. Cock Fighting (oil on canvas, 1993)
“As a child I loved cock fighting. When I was eight years old, my father gave me two ayam sabung (fighting roosters). I took care of them with all my heart. I trained them to be good fighters. Over time, I learnt how to identify those chicks that would prove to be good fighters by examining the scales on their feet. Until one day, a disease (I believe it was an avian flu outbreak) swept through my village and wiped them out. In 1993, still largely working with abstraction, I participated in the Matahati group exhibition titled Life. While most of the paintings were abstract and inspired by nature, Cock Fighting was different. The First Gulf War had happened and as I observed its televised imagery, it triggered my childhood ‘cock fighting’ experiences. I painted Cock Fighting with the intention of communicating this very specific subjective experience, as conflicting images tussled in my head. The public walked in and interpreted the work differently. Abstraction, in that sense, has its limits. Maybe this is also the point I found myself engaging with the ‘political’.”
2. Silent Sorrow (oil on canvas, 1995)
“By 1994, I began to transition into the figure, and it was around this time that I developed an interest that has stayed with me ever since: storytelling. I once came across a newspaper article about an orphaned girl in Kuala Lumpur who was raped by her uncle and eventually sold into prostitution. Time passed and the girl managed to escape the brothel and began a life as a janitor at a Kuala Lumpur hospital. Over time, a policeman who used to frequent the vicinity of the hospital fell in love with her and proposed marriage. Fearing her past, the girl refused. As reprisal, the policeman revealed her previous life to the hospital administration. Destitute and victimised, she ended up at the brothel again.”
3. Recollections Of Long Lost Memories (video, 2007)
“In 2007, Malaysia celebrated 50 years of independence from British colonial rule. Being an important historical marker, all sorts of memories and resources began to surface. Everyone around me was speaking reflexively about what made Malaysia Malaysian, ranging from food to race to music to architecture. In response, I decided to think about how Malaysia is seen by outsiders with the aid of a Lonely Planet guidebook. After purchasing a copy, I began to travel across Malaysia. Along the way, somewhere, I met Everyman – a time traveller and fellow Malaysian who had been to every different historical momentof the nation’s past over the past two centuries. He had not only documented these moments through photographs but also collected souvenirs. We have kept in contact ever since. Each time we meet, he deposits images and souvenirs with me. Some years ago, I decided to betray his trust and open some of the boxes. This is what I found.”