Recently opened at ChinaHouse, “8” is a group exhibition by an eclectic group of eight women artists. Some are trained, other are self taught, and all are from diverse backgrounds and professions. For some of them, art is a passion, for others it is a way to earn a living or to tell a story. However, for each woman, art is a very personal act of self expression, and all have a connection with Penang.
Each artist has also produced ‘mobile’ pieces specialy for this exhibition, which are for sale at RM200 per piece to raise money for the Women’s Centre for Change (WCC) in Penang. WCC is a long-established NGO which works to eliminate violence against women and children, and to promote gender equality. You can find more information at wccpenang.org
Marni Zainodin is a prolific postcard illustrator botanical illustrator , travel sketcher and crafter from the Cameron Highlands, and has been an urban sketcher in Penang since 2010. Her two sets of six postcards on display are sketches of scenes and aspects she passes during her walk from home to work in the Cameron Highlands.
Fb: Marni Zainodin.Poskad
Flickr: Marni in Januari
Email: Marni39100@yahoo.com
Lim Wai Fun is a storyboard artist and urban sketcher who loves gardening and cats. Her paintings show how she loves to explore the world of nature, observing the germination of seeds, how the plants grow, how the caterpillars transform into butterflies, and feeding her guppies with Periwinkles.
Fb: Lim Wai Fun
Insta: Lim Wai Fun
Email: waifunfun@mail.com
Contact No: 012 461 3168
Born and brought up in Penang, Regina Ibrahim is a holistic artist who began professional life as a government schoolteacher, then went on to stage performance, singing and emcee’ing for corporate functions. She has had three solo exhibitions of her artwork, and has written six books in Bahasa Malaysia.
For artist Tiffany Choong, time and memory are central themes. Her “waterpistol” and “Sony Walkman Sports” are representations of iconic objects of desire that recall, for the artist, a joyous childhood. Penang-born Tiffany is a full-time artist and explorer, who has studied and worked in the UK, France, Tanzania and Singapore.
Fb: www.facebook.com/bulanlifestyle
Insta: Bulanlifestyle_art
Website: www.Bulanlifestyle.com
Penang-based artist and teacher Lusy Koror’s work is characterized by bold colours and striking lines, demonstrating her playful take on the world. Each mark she makes, relates to a personal experience or relationship, a personal diary of her experiences and thoughts.
Fb: www.fb.com/lusyfaceofficial
Insta: www.instagram.com/lusy.ink
Website: www.lusy.ink
Jennifer Mourin is a self taught artist of Eurasian descent, who lives and works in Penang. Her new paintings, the “MotherGaia” series challenge the numerous ways human kind continues to exploit, destroy and deplete this planet, by personifying Mother Earth as women surrounded by animals facing extinction.Email: jenmourin@yahoo.co.uk
Web-Profile: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jennifer-mourin.html
Artist Susan Loone refuses to paint women in their stereotypical and traditional roles: sweet, shy, sacrificial, as a mother, wife or lover. She paints women as strong, big and round, bold, fierce and powerful, as goddesses, warriors, activists, wild and seductive, sensual, nude, without shame or guilt. The two art pieces in this exhibition have not been exhibited before.
The Red-face Goddess is fierce, angry that the world is going awry, that war is imminent, but she knows she must join the battle. For victory is not possible without the contribution of women.
The Two-faced Goddess wants the best of both worlds but she knows this is not possible. She needs to make a choice.
Artist Rebecca Duckett-Wilkinson, who also curated this exhibition, puts images onto paper after visualizing them in her head, often after they spontaneously ‘pop into her head’. Her current work, including the pieces on show, represent her thoughts on how ‘humans’ often think of themselves as apart from ‘nature’, when in fact we are one in the same, and are characteristic of her unique use of colour, pattern and texture. Rebecca works between Penang, Malaysia & Piemonte, Italy, and in addition to painting, experiments with botanical & natural dyes on fabric, and is writing a book on her childhood in the plantations of Malaysia.
Fb: www.facebook.com/RebeccaDuckettWilkinsonArt
Insta: tiger_tiffin
Website: www.rebeccaduckett.com
Email:rebeccaduckett@mac.com
The exhibition is at the Art Space, upstairs at China House, and runs until December 20th. Opening hours are 10am until 10pm daily.
All photographs courtesy of the artists.