Although paint on its own is a weak material, I persist in exploring its materiality. Like my migrant identity, I teach my paint to become an organic matter, its roots growing, absorbing, and adapting. —Desmond Mah
The histories of Australia (my home) and Singapore (my birthplace) are characterised by mobility, stemming from their colonial pasts and diverse migrant populations. Mobility extends beyond physical migration, encompassing the transmission of materials and ideas across different regions or cultures. This concept of mobility recurs in art history, as artists regularly journey abroad seeking inspiration. As a former Singaporean with ancestries in China and Taiwan, now residing in Australia, I delve into my own experiences of mobility to explore and shape ideas around identity.
These lived experiences find expression through my self-embodiments. The embodied root-like marks, akin to a replanted bonsai adjusting to its new soil amidst displacement and relocation, navigate, negotiate, and adapt within different cultural contexts. Through this exploration, I challenge the notion of a singular fixed identity, recognising the myriad attachments that shape my contemporary identity continuously.
Although paint on its own is a weak material, I persist in exploring its materiality. Like my migrant identity, I teach my paint to become an organic matter, its roots growing, absorbing, and adapting. The paint in my self-embodied paintings departs from conventional painting practices, existing without the traditional mounted canvas. I propose a new approach to painting, which involves painting directly on manipulated forms with xuan (rice) paper using a disappearing paper effigy technique from my Asian tradition. The paint marks fuse with the paper, championing the materiality of paint. This blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture, and reinvigorates traditional craft into a contemporary form. This form resonates more closely with my Asian heritage.
Motivated by the theme of mobility and the transmission of cultural practices across regions and cultures, as well as the materiality of paint, I aim to broaden understanding of contemporary identity and the fluidity of cultural ideas through these self-embodiments.
These lived experiences find expression through my self-embodiments. The embodied root-like marks, akin to a replanted bonsai adjusting to its new soil amidst displacement and relocation, navigate, negotiate, and adapt within different cultural contexts. Through this exploration, I challenge the notion of a singular fixed identity, recognising the myriad attachments that shape my contemporary identity continuously.
Although paint on its own is a weak material, I persist in exploring its materiality. Like my migrant identity, I teach my paint to become an organic matter, its roots growing, absorbing, and adapting. The paint in my self-embodied paintings departs from conventional painting practices, existing without the traditional mounted canvas. I propose a new approach to painting, which involves painting directly on manipulated forms with xuan (rice) paper using a disappearing paper effigy technique from my Asian tradition. The paint marks fuse with the paper, championing the materiality of paint. This blurs the boundaries between painting and sculpture, and reinvigorates traditional craft into a contemporary form. This form resonates more closely with my Asian heritage.
Motivated by the theme of mobility and the transmission of cultural practices across regions and cultures, as well as the materiality of paint, I aim to broaden understanding of contemporary identity and the fluidity of cultural ideas through these self-embodiments.