The Star Online: Lifestyle: Arts & Fashion

Posted: 31 Mar 2013 02:01 AM PDT

A contemporary painter's second solo showing depicts her journey through womanhood.

The body, particularly the female body, is a source of much rumination for local contemporary painter Yau Bee Ling. Her engagement and experiences with her body as she becomes older, including motherhood and rediscovering her femininity, very much informed her latest solo showing, titled The Women.

The initial inspiration for the collection, she says, was sparked by the collection of free magazines she constantly received at her house, the kind that used images of women to advertise beauty and slimming treatments. These depictions contrasted sharply with the more personal and emotional experiences that she was going through with her own body.

"When you live in an urban setting, you can see so many ways in which the female body is used, in ads and billboards, to create a certain image. Yet, here I am, breastfeeding my daughter, in the midst of understanding the ageing process, and reconnecting with my femininity after becoming a mother. The woman's body is also a vessel for the emotions and the journey associated with these experiences. These are the elements I wanted to explore in this collection," she explains.

Known for her distinctive layered style, where she combines abstract mark-making with more figurative drawings, Yau is one of Malaysia's exciting contemporary painters.

"In my paintings, my style is still primarily expressionist, but I transform the abstract the figurative by playing with ideas of concealing and revealing. You could call them contemporary paintings with a conventional understanding of the media used," she says.

Yau's works have been exhibited in the 2002 Fukuoka Triennale, as well as the Hokkaido Museum of Contemporary Art in 2004, both in Japan. She has also been invited to show her works in Singapore, Pakistan, China, Hong Kong, Sweden and Bangladesh, and in 2005, she was selected for the Rimbun Dahan Malaysian-Australian Artist-in-Residence programme.

In a career spanning 15 years, this is only her second exhibition; the first was Portraits Of Paradox in 2008.

The evolution of her work between the two shows is interesting; Portraits, with its large faces and darker, deeper colours, had an air of intimidation, almost defiance, emanating a clear sense of conflict.

The paintings in The Women, meanwhile, are dynamic pieces throbbing with vivid strokes of colour. In keeping with the theme, they depict women, sometimes in groups, sometimes alone, occasionally with children – these pieces are clearly linked to Yau's personal experiences.

Yet, for all the energy contained in the colour palette and vigorous mark-making, there is also a sense of openness and confidence, even sexuality, that emerges from the paintings.

"Time to reflect is very important for me in my work," shares Yau. "My first show, for instance, was right after my son was born. It was a time when I had to take on new responsibilities, and I was at a place where I was questioning many things, making sense of people. Being alone at home with a baby, I was longing for a connection. All these aspects resulted in pieces that were impulsive and slightly provocative."

The five years between then and now, she says, allowed her to nurture her thoughts and feelings. She also had her daughter during that time, which gave her more reason for reflection.

"The body of work in The Women is my first step towards self-understanding. I feel more grounded in my life, and I feel the joy and possibilities of the next step of my journey. I suppose with this collection, I had a lot more to say because I have two children in my life now. At the same time, I also had the urge to look for spiritual understanding," she says.

Despite the complexity of the pieces, Yau says her aim is for people to connect with her work without necessarily having to intellectualise it.

"Art can nourish the soul, and provide a platform for us to appreciate beauty and give ourselves hope. My paintings may have many layers of meaning, but I also want there to be a simplicity that anyone can connect to within that complexity."

The Women by Yau Bee Ling is showing daily, 10am to 9pm, until April 9 at Wei-Ling Contemporary (G212 and 213A, Ground Floor, The Gardens Mall, Kuala Lumpur). For more information, call 03-2260 1106 / 03-2282 8323 or visit weiling-gallery.com.

Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Ahad, 31 Mac 2013