Malaysia

Sharon Chin

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Sharon Chin

Sharon Chin (b.1980, Petaling Jaya) is an artist and writer living in Port Dickson, a seaside town two hours drive from Kuala Lumpur.

She makes all kinds of things in all kinds of places, from galleries to city sidewalks. She’s hung sails across an embassy lobby, listened to strangers’ hearts on the streets of Sydney, and gotten teargassed while wearing a costume of yellow flowers. Recently, she bathed in public with a hundred people for “Mandi Bunga/Flower Bath”, a project at Singapore Biennale 2013, and painted weeds on political party flags for the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Queensland, Australia.

During her three month 2016 residency at Hotel Penaga, Sharon will be working on a series of linocut illustrations for writer Zedeck Siew’s short story collection about fantastic animals and plants, tentatively titled ‘Local Flora, Local Fauna.’ An exhibition of the prints will be held from 23 July – 7 August 2016 at Run Amok, which is located at Hin Bus Depot Art Centre on Jalan Gurdwara in Georgetown.

For more of Sharon and her work, you can visit her website.

Photo Credit to Azrul K Abdullah for Esquire Malaysia

Goh Sze Ying

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Sze, image credit: Verónica Troncoso

Goh Sze Ying (b. 1983) is a visual designer and researcher based in Kuala Lumpur. In the past decade, she has had many disparate roles in the areas of art, design, and urbanism. Her work is predominantly concerned with the relationship between design and politics in urban public space.

Between 2011 and 2014, Sze led an initiative advocating participatory urbanism called #BetterCities. While at #BetterCities, she developed various programmes – from public talks, private-public partnerships, workshops, research projects and urban interventions – framed around how art, design, and architecture can introduce tactics and situations capable of transforming the city into a playground of collective or individual actions. Some of these projects had been exhibited in Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, Kuala Lumpur, and George Town. More recently, she completed her MA in urban sociology in London and a research residency at Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik (ZK/U) in Berlin. Since then, she is more focussed on research-based projects.

Presently, she is researching and developing an exhibition that will be staged in 2017 as part of a curatorial development programme under the aegis of Japan Foundation Asia Centre. Her exhibition proposal foregrounds the Southeast Asian haze crisis as a framework of inquiry to tease out socio-economic, geo-political, environmental, and technological narratives and issues in Malaysia and the region.

Her residency at Rimbun Dahan is intended to explore and develop a curatorial approach to look at exhibitions as archives and exhibition-making as a research methodology.

http://cargocollective.com/sze

Ineza Roussille

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Ineza Roussille

Ineza Roussille

Ineza Roussille is an independent documentary filmmaker from Malaysia. She’s produced videos for local NGOs on various social issues. These include videos for Yayasan Chow Kit on street children, for the Joint Action Group for Gender Equality (JAG), a coalition of local feminist civil society organisations, on the importance of women’s participation in the elections (Undi Anda, Suara Anda), a series for PT Foundation on People Living with HIV (PLHIV), and for UNICEF on children’s rights in Malaysia. Currently Ineza is working on an ongoing campaign called I Am You: Be A Trans Ally, which aims to raise awareness on the issues of the Transgender community in Malaysia, and complement the efforts regarding the recent judicial challenge against laws that infringed on the rights of the Trans* community.

Other than her documentary work, she has also worked on several creative side projects, including a short film entitled Blackbird, and a mockumentary on lesbians in KL entitled, Angmo & Amoi. Angmo & Amoi has been screened at various queer film festivals including in Manila, Philippines, Jakarta, Indonesia, and Austin, Texas in the USA. She recently won first prize for the PLHIV series at the Red Ribbon Short Film competition, organized by the Malaysian AIDS Council.

She’ll be in residency at Rimbun Dahan for January 2016 to work on a memoir project to explore the story of her father’s life, which may be turned into a graphic novel further down the line.

“As fulfilling as my journey into video activism has been, I feel like I need to step away from the camera and focus more on my writing. My father passed away in March this year, and while clearing out his apartment, I realized I was surrounded by his life story. From the primary school report cards that he kept, to the disgustingly smoke stained walls of his apartment, the visuals in that space painted a picture of him I knew so well, and yet did not understand at all. I realized I needed to write his story, from the perspective of the only person who had the experience of being his child. In writing his story, I hope to allow myself the space to personally grieve his loss, and at the same time produce a story that would make him proud.”

 

Azliza Ayob

Angela Hijjas Resident Artist, Yearlong Visual Arts Residency , , ,
Azliza Ayob

Azliza Ayob (b. 1975) is an artist who works in many mediums, such as painting, collage, and installation. Her most recent solo show was in 2014, titled All That Glitters, at Wei-Ling Contemporary in KL. She’s been working as an artist, facilitator, and educator for 15 years now (and counting), exhibiting both locally and internationally in Japan, Australia, Sweden, Madrid, and Barcelona. Azliza has also been part of Rimbun Dahan’s collaborative exhibitions with WWF, Art For Nature, multiple times in past years. Nature plays a strong part in her work and her inspirations, as seen in her initial statement of intent below:

I am preparing for the first of my autobiographical paintings in one show. I had started my ‘Adventures of Azliza Ayob’ series in 2009, while building Art History (Eastern Art) modules in a local university. While developing my research on manuscript and miniature paintings from great masters, I discovered that the missing link is to incorporate local elements which I believe can be solved if I photograph, sketch, interview and paint local plants and anything related on the function, purpose and local stories (medicinal). I want to change the function of plants from my previous paintings into a selection of the right flower/plant for the right meaning. Rimbun Dahan’s landscape is perfect for anything creative, it’s fresh, private and acts as a data bank for many leaves, plants and flowers.

Al-khuzairie Ali

Angela Hijjas Resident Artist, Southeast Asian Arts Residency , ,
Al-khuzairie Ali

Al-khuzairie Ali (b. 1984) hails from the Malaysian state of Pahang and works with ceramics. He will be at Rimbun Dahan as a resident artist from July to December 2015. You can view some of his past works on his blog.

Artist Statement

I look at the hideous side of the human character which has an impact on other beings in the ecosystem. My work is inspired by the life of the animal. We know that some animals are threatened with extinction. The modern world and the importance of money simply make people lose their judgment and ignore the nature of life. Will future generations be able to see the wildlife species that exist now?

Yeoh Choo Kuan

Angela Hijjas Resident Artist, Southeast Asian Arts Residency , ,
Yeoh Choo Kuan

Yeoh Choo Kuan  (b.  1988,  Malaysia)  is  a  young  artist  working  in  the  veins  of  Abstract  Expressionism though he installs narratives and hints of figuration to the formal language of  his  paintings.  He  graduated  from  Dasein  Academy  of  Art,  Kuala  Lumpur  with  a  Diploma  in  Fine  Arts  in  2010.  Solo  exhibitions  include:  50/50,  Taksu,  Kuala  Lumpur,  Malaysia;  and  Private+ Sentiment,  House  of  Matahati,  Kuala  Lumpur,  Malaysia.  Recent  group  exhibitions  include:  Configuration,  G13  Gallery,  Kuala  Lumpur,  Malaysia;  Connection,  Orange  Gallery,  Philippines;  and  No+ Random+ Nonsense,  Boston  Gallery,  Bacolod  City,  Philippines.  He  lives  and works in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Yeoh Choo Kuan will be at Rimbun Dahan as a resident artist for the month of June 2015, via a collaboration with Richard Koh Fine Art.

Hasanul Isyraf Idris

Angela Hijjas Resident Artist, Southeast Asian Arts Residency , , ,
Hasanul Isyraf Idris

Hasanul Isyraf Idris (b. 1978, Malaysia) was trained at Mara University of Technology, UiTM, in Perak. He has received a number of awards, including the Young Contemporary Arts Award in 2007 at the National Visual Arts Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, the Incentive Award at the  Open Show held at the Shah Alam Gallery and the Consolation Prize for the Young Talent Art  Exhibition at the Penang Art Gallery. A highly elusive artist, Hasanul shuns attending openings and attempts to work anonymously in the art scene. He produces works in a variety of media, from paintings and meticulously crafted drawings to painted oven-baked clay sculptures. Mining inspiration from within, he articulates his personal struggles as an artist by personifying them as strange characters  that inhabit his invented universes. Influenced by the graphics of underground comic books,  1960s science fiction, fast food, and street art and fashion, he juggles pop-culture references  with a personal viewpoint. Recurring topics in his practice are the meaning of life and death, memories and fantasies and sin and reward.

Hasanul will be at Rimbun Dahan as a resident artist for the month of June 2015, via a collaboration with Richard Koh Fine Art.

Omar Musa

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Omar Musa

Omar bin Musa (b. 1984) is an award-winning author, poet and rapper from Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia. He won the Australian Poetry Slam in 2008 and the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam in 2009. He has released two solo hip hop records (The Massive EP and World Goes to Pieces), two self-published books (The Clocks and Parang) and a self-titled album with international hip hop group MoneyKat. His debut novel Here Come The Dogs was published in 2014. Here Come the Dogs received praise from novelists Irvine Welsh and Christos Tsiolkas, was long-listed for the Miles Franklin Award and Musa was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Young Novelists of the Year in 2015.

Omar is the son of Australian arts journalist Helen Musa and Malaysian poet Musa bin Masran. He studied at the Australian National University and the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Omar has combined hip hop music and poetry throughout his career. He was runner up in the 2008 Australian Poetry Slam, before winning in 2009 at the Sydney Opera House. He went on to win the Indian Ocean Poetry Slam in 2010. In 2010 he also did support for Gil Scott-Heron in Munich, Germany. In 2011 he was a guest panellist on ABC’s Q&A. In 2013 he received a standing ovation at TEDxSydney at the Sydney Opera House.

He has been a guest at numerous international writers festivals, including Jaipur Literary Festival in India and the Ubud Readers and Writers Festival in Indonesia, as well as touring extensively in Asia, Europe and Australia. He has collaborated with numerous musicians and hip hop artists, including Akala, Soweto Kinch, Impossible Odds, The Last Kinection, Hau Latukefu from Koolism, Candice Monique, The Tongue, Lotek, Koolta and Geoff Stanfield.

He did a split residency in Hotel Penaga and Rimbun Dahan from June to August 2015.

Kriss Wong

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Kriss Wong is a self-taught visual artist from Malaysia. Her artistic expressions are closely related to nature, community and cultural heritage through videography, photography, drawings, poetry and a variety of mediums.

She has worked for non-governmental organizations, written freelance for travel magazines, taught arts to children and worked as visual artist at music festivals such as LUSH Bangkok Music Festival, Culture One International Dance Music Festival, Stone Free Music Festival and so one.

Kriss Wong has participated in numerous artist residency programs such as The Overstay residency program (Bangkok), Penaga Residency at Hotel Penaga (Penang), Yunnan Arts Can Do Residency Program and Shanghai Arts Can Do Residency Program.

Kriss Wong has been involved in community art projects both in Yunnan and Shanghai since 2015, which includes conducting art classes and working on site specific art projects at Longlin Primary School in Yunnan and Jiuqian Centers in Shanghai. Her long-term residency in China is jointly sponsored by Shanghai Jiuqian Volunteer Center and Australia China Art Foundation.

Traveling plays an important part in her artistic expressions because she is very much inspired by new experiences and new encounters through cross-cultural exchanges.

Kriss was a Hotel Penaga resident artist in October 2014. To find out more about her work, visit her website.

Helmi Azam B. Tajol Aris @ Azam Aris

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Helmi Azam B. Tajol Aris @ Azam Aris

Malaysian Artist for the Malaysia-Australia Visual Artists’ Residency 2012

Azam Tajol Aris in his studio at Rimbun Dahan with some of his army of clones.
Azam Tajol Aris in his studio at Rimbun Dahan with some of his army of clones.

Azam Tajol Aris is Rimbun Dahan’s Malaysian year-long artist-in-residence. He graduated in Fine Arts from Universiti Institut Teknologi Malaysia, in 2007. Born in Perak in 1985, and growing up into the digital age of internet technology, it is the popular-culture world of graphic novels, anime and internet ‘ready-made’ third-hand or regurgitated information that informs Azam Tajol Aris’ art practice. In the current state of information saturation, a threat that ‘all is rumour’ requiring a challenging critical response is what seems to push Azam towards the satirical in his work in a light-hearted social commentary.

Azam’s current work at Rimbun Dahan is in three-dimensional form. It is the first step in a slight shift in direction. He has made multiple plaster casts of a male figure resembling a soldier to create an army of ‘clones’. There is also a cast plaster figure of one clone-member who must be the general, his mouth in an ugly gape, shouting out an order for conformity.  Instead of a helmet though, the clones all have their hair gathered into a peak at the top, a cross between a headgear found on ancient Ramayanawayang kulit characters and a popular latter day hair style.

As ‘puppet master’ or dalang, Azam himself acts as a conduit for the rapid re-processing and disseminating of information. Gathering a patchwork of data, he re-creates ‘still-life’ mute scenarios or vignettes in three-dimensions. The germ for Azam’s three-dimensional ‘stories’ is information that had already been pre-processed and then re-processed and re-translated. Azam completes the mythologizing process by re-packaging the pieces of information into a critique.

CV

Born 15 December 1983, Taiping Perak.

Address Studio Sebiji Padi, 19A Jalan Unyang, Taman Alam Megah, Seksyen 27, 40000 Shah Alam.
Contact 0125785405, Azam_aris@yahoo.com.

Education

2005 – 2007 BFA (hons.), UiTM Shah Alam.
2004 – 2005 Skim Latihan Graduan, PESDC, Tronoh Perak – MMU
Cyberjaya, 7 Month Training in Video.
2001 – 2004 Diploma in Fine Art, UiTM Sri Iskandar.

Solo Exhibitions

2010 ‘PARANOIA’ R.A Gallery, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.
2008 ‘FLOAT’ House Of Matahati, Taman Cempaka, KL

Selected Group Exhibitions

2011 Vertical-Horizontal, House of Matahati, Kuala Lumpur.
2010 The Young Contemporaries Competition, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur.
Art Triangle, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur.
BAD@MAP, Solaris, Kuala Lumpur.
2009 Malaysian Contemporary, Conpenhangen, Denmark.
MEA Award, Sokka Gakai Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
B.A.C.A , R.A Gallery
2008 Young n New part 1, HOM KL.
2007 Degree Show, TNZ Galeri, UiTM Shah Alam

 Awards

2010 Juror Award, Young Contemporaries 2010, National Art Gallery, KL.
2008 Artist in Resident, House Of Matahati.
2007 8th Prize, SCHENKER, Future Transportation Competition.