1) Tell us about yourself and what you do
Hiya, I am a contemporary artist that produces installation and sculptural work and I’ve a day job teaching Art and Design. Previously I worked with ingredients found in the kitchen to make fragile or large scale artworks, but I’ve been more mindful about the artworks’ carbon footprint and have transitioned to working with less fragile materials that require less packing resources and no-fuss transportation. I use these materials to create work that viewers can find some level of familiarity with, no matter how uninformed they are of the art world.
2) Do you have any other interests and do they influence your creative works?
To be quite honest, I don’t particularly seek out activities that are intentionally inspiring. Resting fills most of my free time in between my day job and my studio practice.
What influences my work is how I interpret basic everyday experiences. One of my first artworks that kickstarted this approach to my practice was 'Untitled 28:17' (2010). The idea came to me when I was in the kitchen sieving flour when I realised how cool flour feels to the touch despite the flour tin being kept at room temperature. This then resulted in 300KGs of flour being delivered to my studio space. More recently, I’ve been working with upcycled bedding, an idea that came to me while folding laundry.
Despite the everyday being my muse, I can’t say I consistently seek out to be inspired on the daily. Project deadlines I suppose are my biggest inspiration.
3) Do you have a dream project that you have always wanted to work on?
The closest thing to a dream project would be another opportunity to work on one as fun as my Vargas Museum commission in Manila back in 2018. Unlike the majority of my work that is created in the studio and exported for exhibition, 'Pulau' was made out of grass and was required to be installed on site a few months in advance to the opening. I worked very closely with the carpenters, curators and the gallery assistants from morning to evening. Projects that give me the opportunity to be directly involved with the different levels of people is something I would want to do again.
4) Have you collaborated with other artists and who would you like to work with next?
I love full circle moments so I’d like to exhibit alongside my ex-students that are still actively producing work. It would be nice to see the evolution of their practice, but also the techniques and aesthetics they’ve retained from their time in my class.
5) How do you imagine Brunei’s creative industry to be in the next 10 years?
I am looking forward to seeing what the next generation of artists decide to highlight in their work, and what their medium of choice will be. I am hoping it will be a strange mash up of traditional art making techniques like copper tooling and technology.