"Talisman: FUCK | SHIT | PISS | HELL | LIES, or It’ll never end… never!" (2016) Watercolour and pencil on paper 35cm x 35cm
"The Internalised Self/Light, or Incompleteness is a total bitch” (2017) Graphite and watercolour on HIV medication packaging 22.5cm x 23cm
"The Internalised Self/Darkness, or Tragedy at the tanning salon” (2017) Graphite and watercolour on HIV medication packaging 44cm x 42cm
"The Internalised Self/Achilles, or Amputated ankle… how to dance liddat?” (2017) Graphite and watercolour on HIV medication packaging 47cm x 23cm
"The Internalised Self/Firefly, or In search of a beautiful behind” (2017) Graphite and watercolour on packaging paper 36cm x 26cm
"The Internalised Self: Apollo" (2018) Graphite and watercolour on HIV medication packaging 79.5cm × 54.5cm Singapore Art Museum collection
"The Internalised Self: Atlas" (2018) Graphite and watercolour on HIV medication packaging 41 cm × 41.5 cm Singapore Art Museum collection
"The Internalised Self: Icarus" (2018) Graphite and watercolour on HIV medication packaging 54.5 cm × 55 cm Singapore Art Museum collection
"The Internalised Self: Ganymede" (2018) Graphite and watercolour on HIV medication packaging 42cm × 29cm Singapore Art Museum collection
"Talisman: FUCK|SHIT|LOVE|PAIN|PISS|HELL (Unpackaged), or Hidden words describe luxuries you can only get when you’re alive” (2017) Acrylic on HIV medication packaging 35cm x 39.5cm
"Talisman: BABI SIAL, or Luckless Pig” (2017) Acrylic on HIV medication packaging 23.5cm x 20.2cm
"The Undivided Self/Trinity, or Well, it’s essentially a pig getting spit-roasted” (2017) Graphite on cigarette packet foil and cardboard 32cm x 35cm
"Memento mori/Smoke and Ashes (Kretek version), or Yes, yes, I smoked it all" (2017) (front) Graphite on cigarette packaging 88cm x 55cm
Detail from "Memento mori/Smoke and Ashes (Kretek version), or Yes, yes, I smoked it all" (2017)
"Memento mori/Smoke and Ashes (Kretek version), or Yes, yes, I smoked it all" (2017) (back) Graphite on cigarette packaging 88cm x 55cm
“Poem: Disappearing stages and reappearing pages...” (2017) Pencil on lined paper, with gold cigarette packet foil 20.5cm x 29.5cm
"The Internalised Self/Gatekeeper, or I have replaced everything, including my penis, with wrinkled wisdom” (2017) Graphite and acrylic on paper 29.5cm x 21cm
"The Divided Self/Arum, or 'It’s mine!' 'No, it’s mine!' 'Let go, you sunscreen freak!' 'No, you let go, you albino dotard!'" (2017) Graphite and acrylic on paper 29.5cm x 21cm
"The Divided Self/Shadow, or Dance, dance, you little fairies” (2017) Pencil and poster colour on paper 50.8cm x 40.6cm
"The Divided Self/Courage and Fear (1), or Nak tapi tak nak" (2017) Graphite and acrylic on paper 21cm x 29.5cm
"The Divided Self/Courage and Fear (2), or Nak tapi tak nak" (2017) Graphite and acrylic on paper 21cm x 29.5cm
"The Undivided Self/Dividing, or OK, that was fun but I really need some air now” (2017) Graphite and acrylic on paper 40.6cm x 50.8cm
"The Divided Self/Pleasure and Pain, or The never-ending massage parlour daisy chain” (2017) Graphite and acrylic on paper 50.8cm x 40.6cm x 4 pieces
Detail from "The Divided Self/Pleasure and Pain, or The never-ending massage parlour daisy chain” (2017)
"Memento mori, or Don’t get caught with a dead man’s smile” (2017) Graphite and poster colour on paper 29.5cm x 21cm
"The Internalised Self/Orchid, or If you must draw a penis, make sure it’s soft-focused” (2017)" Graphite on paper 35cm x 35cm
"The Internalised Self/Eclipse, or Let’s litter this imperfect world with flowers” (2017) Graphite on paper 50.8cm x 40.6cm
"The Undivided Self/Eye, or A dilated sphincter is superbly alluring” (2016) Graphite on paper 41cm x 29.5cm
"The Undivided Self/Acrobat, or Wow, I never knew you were so limber” (2016) Graphite on paper 41cm x 29.5cm
"The Undivided Self/Gaia, or Boobies!” (2016) Graphite on paper 41cm x 29.5cm
"The Undivided Self/Void, or So… do you come here often?” (2016) Graphite on paper 41cm x 29.5cm
"The Undivided Self/Mirror, or Auto-eroticism is a beautiful thing” (2016) Graphite on paper 41cm x 29.5cm
"Talisman: Nothing you do in life invalidates you” (2017) Acrylic on calabash shell
Artist talk with curator Sharmin Parameswaran at RAW Art Space
Artist talk at RAW Art Space
Poster for "Red & Gold Exhibition" at RAW Art Space, December 2017
Notes for an artist statement: "It began with a desire to paint the human body --> the whole body"
Drawing from sketchbook
Drawing in progress
Rejected sketch for "Memento mori/Smoke and ashes"
Final draft sketch "Memento mori/Smoke and ashes"
Drawing in progress for "Memento mori/Smoke and ashes"
Outine traced for "The Internalised Self/Achilles
Outline traced for The Internalised Self/Darkness"
Preparing and gluing cigarette packs for "Memento mori/Smoke and ashes"
Poem: "Appearing and disappearing..."
A work that I made during the same period but never got to show
A work that I made during the same period but never got to show
Study for detail in ""The Undivided Self/Eye"
Traced drawings used for composing "The Divided Self/Pleasure and Pain
A shot of "The Divided Self/Pleasure and Pain" after I finished it
Drawing from sketchbook
Drawing on tracing paper
A work that I made during the same period but never got to show
R E D & G O L D
Red & Gold is an ongoing series of paintings on HIV medication packaging that I’ve been making since 2017. I first showed them in my inaugural solo show, also titled Red & Gold, at RAW Art Space, Kuala Lumpur, in December 2017.
Curated by Sharmin Parameswaran, the show presented about 40 works made between early 2016 and late 2017, after I decided to pursue art full time at the age of 42, when I had been asked to resign from my last job after my employer discovered I was HIV+. Before this show, I had chiefly worked as a writer and musician and only exhibited my art sporadically since 2005.
Red & Gold was an important show and series for me as it set the tone for much of the work I would make in subsequent years, especially the incorporation of human figuration and text, the use of recycled materials and exploration of themes of self, identity and queerness.
I was very interested in how red and gold corresponded to the colours of bodily fluids, in this case blood and urine. Most of the works in this series are made on HIV medication packaging that I collected over the years.
At one point in 2017, I ran out of art paper and couldn’t afford to buy any so I started using the packaging of my HIV meds as a medium. The process inspired me greatly, because the material imbued the human figures I was drawing with layers of meaning that I was struggling to express from hardships I was experiencing at the time.
Over the years, the series has been evolving as my understanding and attitude towards the materials change. In the latest iterations of the series, I don’t use red or gold paint anymore, and I paint on the label side now.
I think it reflects my growing desire to be more transparent about the disease. And as long as I am taking the meds, the series will continue in one form or another.