Sunday August 30, 2009
Not a rusty issue
By OOI KOK CHUEN
Long before it was fashionable to talk about the environment, one Malaysian artist was focused on green subjects.
A PROPOSAL for an interactive eco-art project in Sri Lanka’s tsunami-hit zone has won Yeoh Kean Thai the prestigious Commonwealth Foundation Arts Residency Award for 2009.
He is among six winners picked from over 1,000 applicants from Commonwealth countries for the annual award, which offers a grant of up to £8,000 each.
Yeoh Kean Thai says rust is a symbol of cultural decay. The award will be disbursed over the duration of the project.
Yeoh is set to leave for a three-month residency at the Theertha Art House in Pita Kotte, Colombo, in October, when he will turn 43.
At the end of his stint, he will have an exhibition in collaboration with a few local artists there.
It should be around the fifth anniversary of the Dec 26, 2004, tsunami that devastated the coastal regions of Sri Lanka, claiming 31,000 lives and rendering two million homeless.
“It will be a learning experience for me as I will explore the cultural richness and ecological diversity of the country, and work with the artists and children there to come up with some meaningful creative expressions. This will also be the first time I’m breaking away from two-dimensional images and involving myself more physically in my works and the message,” says Yeoh, who has worked consistently on environmental themes since 1992.
Last year, while on the Freeman Art Fellowship at the Vermont Art Studio in the United States, he realised that an artist needs to be diversified.
Man, Relation to Rust II (1997) An artwork can take a different form, and get right into and be about the environment, he believes. “I will be going to the ground, to the environment itself and my works will be based on my physical experiences rather than just what I read.”
He plans to reconstruct pieces from discarded objects or remnants from destruction into works of art that are relevant to the people.
“Although many of the villages ravaged by the tsunami are being rebuilt even now, I am looking more at creating my own art reference by retaining images of the old damaged structures and (recovering) their cultural identity.
“It’s also to remind people about the need to treasure and preserve the natural environment we are blessed with, or face the consequences if we abuse or plunder it.”
His plans include on-site studies at the Sinharaja Forest Reserve, and archaeological sites at Polunaruwa, Sigiriya, Anuradapura and Kandy.
Floating Worlds, Diptic Sculpture (2008) Throughout his research-and-create stint, he enlisted the help of artist-archaelogist Jagath Weerasinghe, priest Shanti Abeysinghe, architect Sumangala and Anoli Perera.
For a cross-cultural dialogue, Yeoh’s works will be brought back to Malaysia after they are shown at Theertha Red Dot Gallery in Sri Jayawardena Pura, the new capital of Sri Lanka.
The Kuala Lumpur stint, scheduled to be held at Shalini Ganendra Fine Art late next year, will entail two-dimensional works, digital print and video art installation. Yeoh was also one of the 10 finalists in the Madrid Procesos ’09, for his Green Roves Armour, which entails wrapping up a tree with a chain “armour” of painted-over door hinges, both metal and ceramic, in front of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.
The work was inspired by Baroness Carmen Thyssen’s threat in April 2006 to chain herself to a tree to stop proposed building work near her museum.
Last year, he was invited by the China Cultural Centre to exhibit at the East Asian Art Exhibition marking the Beijing Olympic Games.
He submitted two works, Arresting Lunch (acrylic and ink on canvas) and Instigated Rust (acrylic and ink on canvas),
The increasing recognition for Yeoh’s art in the last two years is a welcome change and just reward for his skills, consistent focus on green subjects, and conviction.
In 1997, he represented Malaysia at the Philip Morris Asean Art Awards in Manila. In 2005, he won Honourable Mention in the Tashkent Biennale in Uzbekistan.
Yeoh is no fair-weather green artist. Long before eco-art became fashionable, he was already doing art that’s strong on environmental themes.
He started his career immediately after graduating from the Kuala Lumpur College of Art (1989-1992) and held his first green art show, Greening the World (Malaysian Artists Association) in 1992.
This was followed by the Kenyir Eco Fest Malaysia/Singapore Tour 1994, and the Worldwide Fund for Nature, Art for Nature series in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2007.
Significantly, 1992 was also when the first World Environment Conference, better known as the Kyoto Summit, was held.
There were also the dalliances with socio-political subjects in exhibitions like Cetusan Rasa Bosmia/Somalia (Galeri Shah Alam, 1993), Bosnia Aid (Plaza Putra, KL, 1994) and Isu Bosnia (Galeri Petronas, 1994), but he remains steadfast in producing symbolic works on corrosive and oxidised decay and discarded human utensils.
Yeoh’s first favourite subject was the discarded coal-iron, which he rendered with pointillist surface textures simulating rust in his watercolours in the early days.
Then he plumbed for a more palatable washy technique in a mixture of acrylic and pen-nipped ink. His later works also see the inclusion of chains and fence wires for design as well as to enhance interest.
His repertoire eventually expanded to images of tiffin carriers, oil-lamps, betel-nut crackers, tins, fire hydrants, pipings, American mailboxes and an assortment of wrenches, screws, chain links and saw – the symbols of mechanisation.
The objects are rendered still-life fashion and then in 2D and ambiguous spaces. They are designed with repetitive images or different metal parts juxtaposed or intertwined.
“They are not the kind of subjects that endear (themselves) to collectors,” he says of his non-commercially viable works.
But he has persevered as he is not painting for the market.
It all started when Yeoh moved from his hometown in Penang to KL to take up art studies. He first set up base briefly in Chow Kit before moving to Bukit Indah in Ampang, where there were two large scrapyards which he visited to sketch.
“To me, rust represents a degradation of space and is a symbol of cultural decay. Exposed rust here also emits a foul smell after the rain,” he says.
He uses both canvas and recycled paper for his paintings or drawings, which require different approaches.
At Vermont, he also painted on found objects, like old engine caskets and wheel rims, which were first gesso-ed over to protect them against the rust.
“Recycled paper is more absorbent and does not allow reworking. It allows for detailing on top, but you can’t get too ‘painterly’ with it. The colours also tend to stay on top of the surface so I have to control them from dripping.
“With canvas, you can build up the layers and add more details with the rusty effect. It is more time-consuming.”
For a more defined linearity as well as tonal backdrop, Yeoh has been relying more on nips instead of brush – ballpoint pens, gel pens, water soluble pens, and CD marker pens. He also opts for the more unpredictable barbecue brush of various sizes, and liquid ink.
Since 1997, he has also worked on bigger canvases (153cm by 153cm). To date, his biggest piece on recycled paper measures nearly 5m by 1.5m.
It hung from wall to floor at the Vermont Studio during his residency. While in Vermont, he also started working on mobiles with painted-over spare parts fixed with clips as pendants.
With his works being shown in exhibitions in Seoul, New York, Tashkent and Rome in recent years, Teoh is finally going places with his art on rusty subjects.
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