These are paintings of various weeds that grow in the garden of my home in Port Dickson.

They are painted on political party flags that I collected from my neighbourhood. The flags began appearing in Port Dickson around the third quarter of 2012. They were placed in public spaces such as trees, street lamps, and signposts by the roadside.

Weeds are neither glamorous nor important, but they grow and exist in strange places. They are rarely admired but if you look closely at them, they are beautiful. They are tough, persistent, and enduring.

I think we could pay more attention to weeds; look to the ground that sustains us. We might learn something – about life, growth, and change.

These were shown in a one-night exhibition/art party at Merdekarya, on 10 March 2013.

~

We are the weeds.
We are in the buildings, the cracks, the fields, the roadsides.
Stubborn, that’s us.
We are many and not alone.
We are on the side of time,
We have time on our side.

Kamilah rumpai
Hidup di celah, gudang, padang, tepi jalan
Degil.
Tak terbilang, tak bersendirian.
Kami berpihak, ya, kepada masa,
Masa berpihak kepada kami.