Under the theme "Rooted In The Past, Looking Into The Future", 12 sculptures by six Southeast Asian contemporary artists in "Kohler and The Arts Exhibition" — James Seet from Malaysia, Sudsiri Pui-Ock from Thailand, Hadrian Mendoza from the Philippines, Thomas Cheong from Singapore, Nguyen Ngoc Lam from Vietnam and Lin Yuan from China — are on show at Gaysorn Shopping Center. The works touch on the way the artists see themselves and their countries.
The exhibition, which is sponsored by Kohler, includes new sculptures as well as works specially crafted by artists who have taken part in the company's residency programme.
The six artists interpret the theme of the show into various forms, touching on mythology, humanity, religion and the state. Seet's Janus Past/Present is made of ceramic and crafted into the form of Greek God Janus's face. Sudsiri Pui-Ock has created a set of brass feet and hands that look vaguely like fragments of Buddha images. Nguyen Ngoc Lam uses brass to convey the thought of originality through a work called The Seeds, while Lin Yuan puts Tang-era pottery in chromium and re-evaluates the idea of history and stories from the past.
Of the six artists, Seet and Sudsiri were present at the opening earlier this month, and they shared with us the ideas behind their works.
"Janus is a Greek god who sees past and future, which can be linked with the theme of the exhibition," said Seet. "Ceramic is an old material but how do you see it in the modern day? We've known ceramic all our lives from being used in bowls to mugs, but now it's been substituted by glass and plastic. I want to do a bit more with ceramic. What if ceramic speaks to you, makes you feel and think?"
Besides the choice of material, Seet also wanted to reflect on the multilayered culture of his homeland.
"Janus Past/Present describes Malaysia," he said. "It talks about how you think and perceive your past, and how you see your future self. You can't see the future if you don't have a solid foundation in your past. Moreover, as present and future always moves ahead, I think everyone should contemplate who you want to be, your aspirations and dreams. This is abstract and still hard to understand. But I still like my work to be whimsical and have a life of its own."
Sudsiri's pieces, called World Dweller and Worldly Wisdom, clearly take their model from Buddhist iconography and its relationship with the world — the bouquet of brass hands with folded fingers resembling the Buddha's gesture, that go up and down, mirroring each other.
"Every religion has the same principal," said Sudsiri. "Christianity talks about general love for family or neighbours. Buddhism teaches people to love everyone, especially ourselves. Love is a universal language. My piece Worldly Wisdom is made to look like Buddha's hands but with the sign 'I love you' it is understandable for both Buddhist and non-Buddhist.
"Then, as other religions also mentioned about the other world beyond our earth, I'd like to say in World Dweller that what's most important to our future is actually this world we're living in. So I drew the world map on the sole of the feet of Buddha."
Everything, however, is open to interpretation.
"It all depends on the background and experience that have shaped each person's perspective," she said. And we're invited to have our own perspective at this exhibition.
"Kohler and The Arts Exhibition: Rooted In The Past, Looking Into The Future” runs until Friday at G Floor, Gaysorn Shopping Center from 10am to 8pm.
Sudsiri Pui-Ock's World Dweller.
