Boats & Bridges (Reka Art Space)
POETIC ENCOUNTERS OF AN ARTIST’S HOMECOMING Petaling Jaya
a solo exhibition by Sharon Chin
Balik kampung is surely one of our more familiar, endearing and commonly shared Malaysian experiences. Its performance, from the weekend trip to one that traverses larger geographical distances, a firm nod to the places that have contributed to the construction of our identities.
Beyond its familiar comforts and joys, the journey home for some, can also carry with it a certain amount of apprehension. Changed destinies, growth, maturity, differences and new realisations set the tone for a complex re-negotiation with the ties that bind us to our histories.
Sharon Chin returned to Kuala Lumpur in 2004 after her studies at the Victorian College of Art in Melbourne, majoring in sculpture.This is her first body of work made at home. This exhibition of installations and drawings are about transitions and journeys from one place to another.
“For me, I experienced coming ‘home’ in two intense ways—one was with the immediacy of my body, the other was with the enveloping volume of language”, explained Chin as an introduction to her work.
The 2 installations in the exhibition, one titled “Bridges” and the other, “Boats”, work in tandem to recreate Chin’s multiple sensations arising from her homecoming experiences.
“Bridges” is made out of barricade tape wrapped around an immobile pillar in the gallery on one side connecting to plaster sculptures laid on the floor on the other. The imagery is gleaned from the local industrial landscape; concrete pylons, construction sites, half-filled plastic bags. This piece corresponds to the physical sensation of heaviness Chin encountered upon her return, having to renew her reponsibilities towards family, society and nation.
While “Bridges” deals with the idea of weight, “Boats” is about impermanence. The installation is a giant crossword-puzzle drawn on the gallery floor using plaster as chalk. Chin encourages audiences to “navigate” the puzzle, searching out words and meanings for themselves as they walk on the puzzle. Over time, the words are rubbed out from the walking, suggesting the transient nature of words and meanings.
“Language is a beautifully intangible thing... In this work, I wanted to make language visible, let it inhabit volume and space. To think more about the words that surround and define us—names of places, patriotic slogans, propaganda”, said Chin.
Duration: 5 – 27 August
Location:
Reka Art Space
GL29 Block C Kelana Square,
17 Jalan SS7/26, Kelana Jaya.
Opening Hours: Wednesday - Saturday from 11am to 5pm. Other times, by appointment only. Contact: Chee Sek Thim email: sekthim@reka-art.com h/p: 017-872 7721
Chang Yoong Chia email: yoongchia@reka-art.com h/p: 016-374 5848
Tel/fax: 03-7880 5982
Website: www.reka-art.com
a solo exhibition by Sharon Chin
Balik kampung is surely one of our more familiar, endearing and commonly shared Malaysian experiences. Its performance, from the weekend trip to one that traverses larger geographical distances, a firm nod to the places that have contributed to the construction of our identities.
Beyond its familiar comforts and joys, the journey home for some, can also carry with it a certain amount of apprehension. Changed destinies, growth, maturity, differences and new realisations set the tone for a complex re-negotiation with the ties that bind us to our histories.
Sharon Chin returned to Kuala Lumpur in 2004 after her studies at the Victorian College of Art in Melbourne, majoring in sculpture.This is her first body of work made at home. This exhibition of installations and drawings are about transitions and journeys from one place to another.
“For me, I experienced coming ‘home’ in two intense ways—one was with the immediacy of my body, the other was with the enveloping volume of language”, explained Chin as an introduction to her work.
The 2 installations in the exhibition, one titled “Bridges” and the other, “Boats”, work in tandem to recreate Chin’s multiple sensations arising from her homecoming experiences.
“Bridges” is made out of barricade tape wrapped around an immobile pillar in the gallery on one side connecting to plaster sculptures laid on the floor on the other. The imagery is gleaned from the local industrial landscape; concrete pylons, construction sites, half-filled plastic bags. This piece corresponds to the physical sensation of heaviness Chin encountered upon her return, having to renew her reponsibilities towards family, society and nation.
While “Bridges” deals with the idea of weight, “Boats” is about impermanence. The installation is a giant crossword-puzzle drawn on the gallery floor using plaster as chalk. Chin encourages audiences to “navigate” the puzzle, searching out words and meanings for themselves as they walk on the puzzle. Over time, the words are rubbed out from the walking, suggesting the transient nature of words and meanings.
“Language is a beautifully intangible thing... In this work, I wanted to make language visible, let it inhabit volume and space. To think more about the words that surround and define us—names of places, patriotic slogans, propaganda”, said Chin.
Duration: 5 – 27 August
Location:
Reka Art Space
GL29 Block C Kelana Square,
17 Jalan SS7/26, Kelana Jaya.
Opening Hours: Wednesday - Saturday from 11am to 5pm. Other times, by appointment only. Contact: Chee Sek Thim email: sekthim@reka-art.com h/p: 017-872 7721
Chang Yoong Chia email: yoongchia@reka-art.com h/p: 016-374 5848
Tel/fax: 03-7880 5982
Website: www.reka-art.com
posted by Anonymous at 6:41 pm
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