Biography
Desmond Mah/Ma Fumin/马福民 (b. 1974, Singapore, Singaporean-Australian; works between Boorloo/ Perth and Singapore) is a contemporary painter who creates figurative and landscape paintings using a “weaved paint” technique by manipulating paint and adhesive. This technique conduits his neurodivergence into his visual language of lines. His choice of expressing paint on paper reflects his Asian heritage, adapting from traditional Asian papercraft*. Additionally, paper is historically synonymous with record-keeping and documentation. Although his works on paper straddle between 2D and 3D forms, painting always drive his process. Mah’s artworks frequently explore his migratory experiences and evolving identities. Currently, he focuses on re-examining British colonial histories in the Global South, reassembling histories and narrating their implications. Mah is of descent from the Hainan Islands, Taiwan’s Kinmen Islands, and Singapore. He immigrated to Australia during his teenage years in the 1980s, a racially challenging time for the Asian diaspora in Boorloo. He completed his BA Hons in Painting from Loughborough University, UK in 1998, and studied at LaSalle College, Singapore in 1997. Additionally, Mah turned down an offer to purse MA with Royal College of Art in London in 2023. His emerging art career started only in 2017 after working in the fields of art education and horticulture. 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. These residencies include the Fremantle Arts Centre Studio Program (2023) and two Red Gate Residencies (Beijing, 2018). His artworks are found in notable collections. In 2024, Mah has participated in three exhibitions during Singapore Art Week and is slated for an upcoming solo exhibition as part of the 2nd Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024 with Mossenson Galleries on 16 October. *The technique is known as Zhizha (纸扎). In Taoist tradition, Zhizha is employed to create paper-effigy offerings, such as houses, animals, and even servants for the deceased. 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.
|
A Kampong village dwelling,
Kampong Bahru, Singapore, 1970s. Mah's childhood experience. Photo: nas.gov.sg 6 months' studio residency with Fremantle Arts Centre, Moores
Studio Space (2023) Winner, Special Selection Award,
E.SUN Bank Awards 3rd Edition, Taipei (Dec 2022) A Zhizha artisan working on a paper
effigy (internet image) |