February 2013 Archives

Weeds: When & Where + BARRICADE

Hello!

This weekend I was in KL, because of family, and so I’ve been churning out paintings on the floor of my old bedroom. My back hurts so, so much. (I’m never disrespecting painters again. How the hell do they do it???)

BTW, I found a space for the Weeds show! Merdekarya, an awesome new indie bookshop/space in Taman Petaling. (Just a few doors down from May N Mike’s, for all you makan enthusiasts.)

And a date: 10 March 2013. That’s a Sunday.

I love Merdekarya so much. Because:

(1) It’s got such a neighbourhoodly feeling;

(2) It’s not a white-empty-wall box;

(3) Brian Gomez, one of the people that run it, says the name is pronounced “merde karya” — hehehe, geddit?

(4) It’s got this beautiful balcony:

Photo is blur because I’m swooning.

~~~

One of the Weed paintings (a flag triptych) is part of BARRICADE, now at Map@Publika. It’s a group exhibition about political art ‘n stuff, by the usual — and not so usual — suspects.

Lookie here’s a photo of my work at the show, flapping in a rogue breeze that managed to infiltrate the gallery space guerrilla-style:

30 Days of Weeds – Day 22

Here’s a creeper that covers the ground in my backyard. Tough little thing, since it grows under perpetual shade (thanks to FOUR fruit trees). Has small white flowers with maroon hearts.

30 Days of Weeds – Day 21

Here’s another weedy-weed weed that likes growing in the cracks. Its got little white flowers at its furry bases.

30 Days of Weeds – Day 20

Technically, tis’ not a weed. My mom saw this coconut with a shoot growing out of it laying on the ground. She picked it up and brought it home. She kept it sitting in a dish of water for a good while, then threw it back into some undergrowth in the park where she walks every day. Said she hoped it would grow into a coconut tree.

30 Days of Weeds: Day 15 – 19

Hello, dear people!

Well fuck me, I am sorry to have missed the past few days of weeds.

Here they are, in a big weedy bundle.

1. I call this one hitch-a-ride. It’s got little green seeds that cling to the bottom of your pants or socks if you get too close. I think something similar inspired that dude who invented Velcro.

2. Grass

3. A creeper growing over our wall from the neighbour’s side. It’s really pretty.

4. Not technically a weed. It’s a malnourished aloe vera plant I drew when I was at my parents place in the city.

5. This one had small, bright yellow flowers.

30 Days of Weeds – Day 14

This is a handsome lookin’ common weed. It loves growing out of the cracks in the wall or drain.

30 Days of Weeds – Day 13

This is a creeper growing on the fence of the vacant lot opposite.

It might be a kind of gooseberry. See those pyramid shapes toward the right there? They’re a papery, poofy shell with seeds inside. Maybe physalis minima or pokok letup-letup (letup = explode)?

Or it could also be a young passiflora foetida (passion flower vine).

Btw, check out Dr Francis Ng’s excellent blog Tropical Gardening. He’s also the author of Tropical Horticulture and Gardening, a true gem of a book. My mom gave me a copy, and it’s been an awesome roadmap into the weird wonderful world of Malaysian plants.

30 Days of Weeds – Day 12

This plant has been happily growing in a wild bunch under a tree in our front yard. On the day I was drawing it, Zedeck’s mom came for a visit. She said: that’s not a weed! I planted it years ago!

She called it pokok Lidah Ular (snake tongue plant). When boiled into a tea, it’s meant to have great medicinal properties, boosting the immune system. It’s incredibly bitter.

Seems to go by plenty cool names: Raja Pahit (King of Bitters), Hempedu Bumi (Bile of the Earth), and Akar Cerita (Root of Story). The scientific name is andrographis paniculata.