Making ideas out of selected materials is artist Kim Ng’s raison d’etre, writes Amanda Suriya Ariffin
HIS father was a builder and Kim Ng grew up in a home where various materials and tools were left lying around for a child to play with. But despite carving shapes out of chalk or moulding things out of soil as a curious youngster, he never envisioned that he would be as immersed in art as he is today.
The prize-winning artist is in the midst of his latest solo exhibition titled In A Place Of Wonder at the Wei Ling Gallery in Kuala Lumpur. It is one of several that he and the gallery have hosted since his return to Malaysia in 2002, so his immersion in art has been extremely productive, to say the least.
“I was always attracted by textures and marks caused and left behind by nature and human beings in the beginning,” says Ng, 49. “After returning to Malaysia from the UK, my views expanded and I began to focus more on human behaviour where I refer to graffiti and marks left on street walls, as well as activities caused by human beings.”
The graduate of London Guildhall University (where he obtained First Class Honours in Fine Art), is a maestro at manipulating multiple textures and media. He employs various print-making methods such as collagraphy, silk screen printing, etching, wood-cut and chine-colle. The result is not just visually stunning, but is also elegant chaos.
There is meaningful expression in the mayhem that brings freshness to the artwork. Ng’s work is anything but cliche.
“I don’t stick to a particular technique or style. My artworks are presented in both two and three dimensional formats,” he says.
“Today, as an artist who works with different materials and art forms, I still prefer sculptural objects, something which is tactile and touchable, more than two dimensional works.”
He admits that his parents knew nothing about art but this did not stop him from obtaining two Master’s degrees — one from his alma mater and another from the University of Westminster.
Just two years after his first exhibition in the UK in 1994, Ng took home the Owen Riley prize. It was an extraordinary achievement for someone whose “first proper art training was at the Kuala Lumpur College of Art in 1986”.
Wei Ling spotted his talent during an art competition in 2002 at KL’s National Visual Arts Gallery. It’s been quite a ride.
BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY
Ng talks of the time he worked for a relative in a factory in Klang which produced audio speakers. It crosses his mind sometimes how his journey might have turned out had he not pursued art determinedly.
“When I was studying in the UK, I already knew that after graduating, I would like to work in a proper art college or art department where I could teach while carrying on with my art.”
If the pieces from his current exhibition are any indication, art lovers are probably glad that Ng decided to pursue art doggedly. Perhaps it is just coincidence, but there is a touch of the industrial in his work, though it is offset with whimsy. There is order in his seemingly-disorganised composition. Newcomers to Ng’s work may find their eyes darting from one corner to another in his pieces, but there is sense in the juxtaposition of disparate styles. There is depth in everyday objects that become objets d’art.
There is cleverness in the use of aluminium enamel spray paint on top of velvet fabric. Stark simplicity comes to life. How many would think of using something so cold on a surface so lush and tactile?
A personal favourite is — ironically — part of the untitled series. Labelled simply as Orange, it employs no less than eight media and techniques. The description reads “water-based paint, printed collage, pencil, acrylic, oil paint, silkscreen print and graphite powder with varnish on canvas.” The effect is stunning. It speaks of thought and care, but is executed with nonchalant abandon.
“We can actually see how an artist thinks through his art. I hope visitors can experience what I have experienced,” says Ng.
“I am moving slowly towards a cross-disciplinary direction in my art making in which I mean to work with different materials and art forms rather than to stick with one particular material or art form. I am more into ‘making ideas’ out of materials, therefore viewers might be confronted with different art forms in my future exhibitions.”
If his future work is as exciting as his current work of meshing textures and mediums, this art lover will always be in a place of wonder with the creative force that is Kim Ng.