Buro Spotlights: Ryan Naga and Lee Mok Yee search for home in ‘I Am A Prayer’ Dual Exhibition
Somewhere we belong
It has been said that art, at the service of its audience, serves as a mirror onto which life is laid bare. The latest dual exhibition at Wei-Ling Gallery echoes the sentiment. Going back to the fundamentals of society, ‘I Am A Prayer’ sees homegrown artists Lee Mok Yee and Ryan Naga contemplate the idea of home, be it physical or metaphorical, infusing their respective works with cultural motifs, gender identities, and personal moral frameworks.
Mok Yee, for starters, suggests that home is an extension of the self as he dissects the many roles he has assumed in his three decades—a man, a partner, and a son—expressing them through shapes reminiscent of his Chinese ancestry. May You Rise to Greater Heights With Each Step is especially indicative of his vision with the blend of wood, bamboo, and incense making way for a decided interpretation of the traditional Southeast Asian spirit house Na Tu Kong.
Elsewhere, fragments of the artist’s past are scattered across the second floor of the gallery. While My Playground, a statement piece made of carton boxes and consumer goods, a demonstration of his partiality for subversive materials, recaptures a fond memory of a boy idling the hours away at his parents’ corner shop, My Father Used to Test Me About the Map is imbued with a sense of alienation as Mok Yee juxtaposes his connection to the mainland against his father’s.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Naga leans on the abstract with his Homing drawing-data project inspired by the homing pigeons. “Every modern-day feral pigeon carries rich stories of human history—migration, colonial expansion, changing values. The homing pigeon was once valued for its ability to return to a home location while taking the same route every time. Scientists pose various theories, but we do not know how they do it,” he said at the preview.
Naga’s take on the subject is neatly articulated via graphite drawings of the bird, accompanied by frames of debossed writings—transcriptions of his exchanges with family, friends, partners, and complete strangers on the feelings of comfort and the perceptions of home. Those who wish to immerse themselves in the experience may participate in the conversation by entering the ‘birdcage’ at the centre space of the gallery where the artist awaits every Saturday.
‘I Am A Prayer’ will be on display until 23 November 2024 at Wei-Ling Gallery. The exhibition is available by appointment only. For appointments and additional information, please call +603 2260 1106 or email [email protected].
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