anidyllicspace

An Idyllic Space

Kim Ng, one of the country’s leading printmakers holds his 5th solo exhibition at Wei-Ling Gallery in March 2009.The exhibition entitled “An Idyllic Space” explores modern living and investigates how we as human beings interact with our environment.In this body of works Kim continues on his voyage of self-discovery, imbuing his works with nostalgic references which reflect his idyllic childhood and his time growing up in a small town in Malaysia.

‘An Idyllic Space’ explores the notion of the existence of place and space, where he has recorded events and activities which have happened during his time spent there, and has then juxtaposed these images to construct a ‘new place’ in his artworks.
In his words he says "in an attempt to construct an idealized place/space through the images taken from the surroundings in my work, I destruct the true identity of the actual place, and in its place have created my own visual form".

This desire to find utopia in his works has given Kim the ability to see the world through his own rose-tinted glasses and in so doing his pieces allow us to escape into the beauty of this perfect place.

‘An Idyllic Space’ features at Wei-Ling Gallery, from 9th March -3rd April 2009. Wei-Ling Gallery is located at No.8 Jalan Scott, Brickfields,Kuala Lumpur,50470,Malaysia . Pls call 03-22601106/07, 012-3025302 or email weiling@weiling-gallery.com for more information.
www.weiling-gallery.com
Wei-Ling Gallery is open Mon-Sat (Mon-Fri,12-7pm,Sat 10-5pm.Closed Sundays and Public Holidays)

Read catalogue article

“And at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive

where we started and know the place for the first time.”

T.S.Eliot

Kim Ng and I, besides being artists, share an experience. We have both lived abroad and after a lifetime have returned to live and work in the country of our birth. It is through the eyes of a fellow returnee that I have studied his images over these last few years. We live in an age of movement: emigration, immigration, displacement.

Inevitably, change occurs. This country is experiencing great changes in attitudes, a raising of consciousness, a sense of empowerment. Artists, naturally, are busy reflecting this in myriad ways. For Kim Ng it is about losing 'Place', but, with his alchemy, rediscovering it in his own deconstructed spaces.

This body of work is about Malaysia. These works include the suggestion of the human form. There are the multicoloured works and the monochromatic.

Kim Ng is a scavenger. He gathers objects and images from everywhere and hoards them for future use. He is a master in the disciplines of printmaking but he follows his instincts throwing the unlikely together and creating an elegant chaos. Kim Ng is a printmaker who is able to use the flexibility of the medium to break the boundaries. Some of the work is painterly and even sculptural. He prefers to be an object maker.

Walking along a wall of 'Kim Ngs' is like strolling down a road in the tropical sun. Bright Kubrik light assaults the eyes but the retina registers certain vignettes that etch themselves into the mind. This happens especially with the monochromatic pieces. There is a thread of melancholy running through them. Displacement pervades these images, for the human forms look temporary and unsure of their status in the composition. These shadows could likely vanish as we pass them. Are we intruding in this space? Are human beings objects within that space? In 'The ground we share' the figures are between the unknown and a hard place. There is unease and tension in the human texture. Are we able to share?

In a room of Kim Ng's work one is presented with a compendium of questions and a series of sights full of ambiguity. There is a sense of longing for vanished moments. So he constructs and deconstructs, Kim Ng builds a palimpsest of colour and texture. The ugly and the beautiful try to cancel each other out. The images evolve. Memories are jolted by traces of old architecture, the postures of backstreet denizens. Here is a 'welcome home' feast of visual 'Madeleines'.

Izan Tahir February 2009

City Dweller Series (selected examples)