Artist Statement

As a Malaysian born in the 1980s, most of us grow up surrounded by the influence of Japanese pop culture. Imitating manga I love is the moment I start to develop my passion for painting.

The subject matter that is persistent in my works is the BL, a female-oriented subculture. Curiosity towards BL brings me to gender studies and feminism, opening alternative thinking about the social construct in our world.

Crape myrtle (pokok bungor) is a plant that grows around Kuala Lumpur but we don’t usually notice it. The plant has a certain medical effect where local people use it as medicine. The scale placed in the centre of the painting means exchange and equality. Being forced to be alone during the pandemic, I have been reflecting on what we have done in exchange for this terrible disaster. Mankind who thinks he dominates the world order, how does he treat the other - natural world? Why does mankind always repeat the same mistakes in history?

Among all the questions that I have no answers for or where answers are buried deep down in history, I use crape myrtle as a comfort to all the unanswered questions.