Biography
Desmond Mah/Ma Fumin/马福民 (b. 1974, Singapore, Singaporean-Australian; resides in Boorloo Perth) is a contemporary painter who adopts a drawing approach to painting. He completed his BA Hons in Painting from Loughborough University, UK in 1998, and studied at LaSalle College, Singapore in 1997. Before emerging in 2017, Mah worked in the fields of art education and horticulture. Mah is of descent from Hui ethnicity (回族), Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands (金門縣) and Singapore. He immigrated to Australia and lived in Boorloo during his teenage years in the 1980s, a challenging place particularly for the Asian diaspora. Working with the paint medium and Xuan (rice) paper, Mah emphasises materiality, tactility, and physicality. He intentionally moves away from the traditional mounted canvas, choosing instead to layer and fuse paint marks with manipulated Xuan paper*, creating a symbiotic relationship between the two. Mah likens paint to a living organism that reacts to stimuli, reproduces, grows, adapts, and maintains homeostasis. His paints constantly adapt and transform in tandem with the medium of paper. Mah’s achievements include winning the E.SUN Bank Special Selection Prize (Taiwan, 2022) and the Southern Buoy Studios Portrait Prize (Australia, 2021). He has received grants and actively participated in exhibitions, residencies, and commissions. Notable residencies include the Fremantle Arts Centre Studio Program (2023) and two Red Gate Residencies (Beijing, 2018). Additionally, his artworks are found in notable collections. In 2024, Mah has participated in three exhibitions in Singapore and is slated for an upcoming solo exhibition as part of the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024 with Mossenson Galleries in October. *The technique is known as Zhizha (纸扎). In Taoist tradition, Zhizha is employed to create paper-effigy offerings, such as houses, furniture, gadgets, and even servants for the deceased and gods. These offerings are then ritually burned. Unfortunately, these artisans are dwindling due to related environmental concerns and weakened religious belief. Mah observed this technique during his childhood spent in his grandfather's Chinese temple (now defunct), and he aspires to reinvigorate this paper-craft technique through his contemporary painting practice.
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A Kampong village dwelling,
Kampong Bahru, Singapore, 1970s. Mah's childhood experience. Photo: nas.gov.sg Studio residency at Fremantle Arts
Centre (Aug 2023) Winner, Special Selection Award,
E.SUN Bank Awards 3rd Edition, Taipei (Dec 2022) A Zhizha artisan working on a paper
effigy (internet image) |