Turmoil at Eslite Spectrum Starhill: When Art Meets Design
I’m very happy to share that my work Turmoil has been selected to be part of the current exhibition at eslite spectrum Starhill, Kuala Lumpur.
It feels particularly meaningful to see this piece enter a space where art, design and lifestyle come together.
Turmoil is a work that has stayed with me because of its energy. It was never intended to be perfectly controlled. The irregularities, the variation in colour and the individual plywood pieces are all part of how I want the work to feel.
I work with plywood because I’m interested in what happens when a material that is usually associated with construction, furniture or interiors is pushed into the territory of contemporary art.
I paint the plywood by hand, cut it into individual elements and bring those pieces back together to form a larger composition. I often think of these pieces as fragments each one holding its own character while contributing to something bigger.
That idea is particularly relevant to Turmoil.
There is tension in the work, but also movement. The composition isn’t meant to feel completely settled. I want the eye to move across the surface, finding moments of disruption, rhythm and contrast.
From artwork to living space
One of the things I find increasingly interesting about my practice is the relationship between art and the spaces in which we live.
I don’t see my plywood works as objects that necessarily have to remain separate from their surroundings. They can respond to architecture, interiors and the people who occupy those spaces.
This is something I have been exploring through my Art Beyond Canvas approach using hand-painted plywood and modular construction to rethink what a painting can be.
For me, the individual pieces are important, but so is the space between them.
The work changes depending on how it is assembled, how it catches the light and how it interacts with the wall and surrounding environment. There is something quite different about encountering a painting that has physical depth and structure rather than simply a flat surface.
A timely conversation about Malaysian design
The timing of this exhibition is also interesting.
Recently, Buzz Kini Berita Harian featured a piece discussing how local design needs to move beyond simply creating products and instead communicate a wider lifestyle and identity.
The article, “Reka bentuk tempatan perlu melangkaui produk, tampilkan gaya hidup,” can be read here:
Read the Berita Harian Feature
Read the Baskl Feature
I’m grateful to see my work included within this wider conversation about Malaysian creativity, design and the way we experience our surroundings.
For me, the distinction between art and design has never felt completely fixed.
I am interested in making work that can hold its own as contemporary art while also having a relationship with interiors and the environments around it. Perhaps that is why working with plywood feels so natural to me. It already belongs to the world of making, building and living.
I simply choose to approach it differently.
Turmoil continues its journey
What makes this selection especially exciting for me is that Turmoil has now begun to take on a life beyond my studio.
It was also recently selected for Domio Gallery’s Quiet Tension exhibition, which I wrote about here:
Selected for Domio Gallery: Quiet Tension and Turmoil
I love seeing how the same work can be interpreted differently depending on where it is shown.
In the studio, I know every piece of plywood that went into Turmoil. I remember the painting, the assembling and the decisions and sometimes the decisions that weren’t quite decisions at all.
Once the work leaves the studio, however, it belongs to the viewer.
It becomes part of a new space and a new conversation.
That is one of the reasons I continue to explore plywood mosaic and modular art. I don’t want every piece to be overly precise or polished. I want some evidence of the hand, the material and the process to remain visible.
For me, that imperfection is not a flaw.
It is part of the story.
Looking beyond the canvas
Having Turmoil exhibited at eslite spectrum Starhill feels like another small but significant step in my ongoing exploration of what art can become when it moves beyond the traditional canvas.
I’m interested in the space between painting, sculpture, design and interior environment.
And perhaps that space somewhere between art and everyday life is where my work feels most at home.
I’m looking forward to seeing Turmoil in its new setting at eslite spectrum Starhill and, as always, to seeing how people respond to it outside the studio.
For now, I’m simply grateful that this rather unruly piece of plywood has found another place to cause a little turmoil.
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