Wednesday June 27, 2012

For the love of batik

By FADZILAH NAJUMUDEEN
metro@thestar.com.my Photos by RAJA FAISAL HISHAN

THE MozaKlasik Art Exhibition at the Royale Chulan Hotel showcases a total of 96 art pieces by local Malaysian artist Zalani Mohamad, or better known as Molly.

The exhibition which took Molly a total of six years to complete, features five different series including the Symphony of Batik & Songket, Batik the Contemporary, Artistika Batik, Summer Roses, Batik Usang (The Faded Batik)and Molly’s own private collection.

Molly, who is inspired by the beauty of batik, floral and nature, started working on the paintings in 2006.

Fabric and colour : Molly posing with some of her art pieces at the exhibition at the Royale Chulan.

“Some art pieces can be completed in a matter of weeks but some of them took me years to finish,” she said.

The Symphony of Batik & Songket series portrays the combination of batik sarung and kain songket designs.

Classic colours are used in most of the paintings in this series to reflect the classic quality of batik sarung with the elegant touch of songket.

The design for the Batik the Contemporary series on the other hand, takes a modern twist. Still keeping to the traditional batik origin, Molly featured nature’s beauty such as flowers, leaves, water, wind and earth.

“The freedom in art is reflected in Artistika Batik,” said Molly.

“This series shows that there is no limit to what the painter can do with a paint brush and an empty canvas.

“It also features mixed materials such as cloth, rope and beads to beautify the look of the painting,” explained Molly.

Freedom in art: Molly with her newly launched ceramic collection that features her artwork printed on them.

Molly’s series of Summer Roses highlights her favourite flower, the rose, and features bright yellow, orange, brown and gold colours to represent summer. The bright and sunny motifs are intended to bring a more cheerful mood and happiness.

Among all of the series in the exhibition, Molly’s favourite is the Batik Usang series.

“I love them all but Batik Usang has to be my favourite because I just love the traditional beauty of batik.

“Although the fabric and colour can fade as time passes, it is still beautiful and the art piece helps to preserve the value of the batik for people to appreciate,” she said.

The exhibition also features Molly’s private collection. These art pieces were not intended for sale but due to the public’s demand, Molly has printed replicas of her original artwork. These are for sale.

“Some of them are based on pictures that I have come across on various occasions and have caught my eye. These are just my interpretations of what I have seen,” said Molly.

The art pieces are priced from RM500 to RM25,000. Some have been sold to Molly’s personal friends as well as corporate companies such as Bank Rakyat and Takaful Malaysia.

Molly also introduced her ceramic collection during the launch of the art exhibition last week. The collection, which comes up to 58 pieces, features her paintings.

She is also coming out with a coffee table book that features her artwork from the exhibition and will be available for purchase from amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.

The art exhibition ends tomorrow at 2.30pm but can still be viewed at the MozaKlasik Art Gallery at B-05-05, Prima Duta Kondo, Jalan Dutamas, North Kiara, off Jalan Duta, 50480, Kuala Lumpur.

For details, visit www.mozaklasik.com, call 03-6250 6616/ 017-389 1245 or email info@mozaklasik.com.