This started out as a shoot growing out of the ground. It eventually morphed into a creeper that strangled a tree-sized chilli plant I was trying to nurture. My garden has a mind of it’s own.
Wanna see all 30 Days of Weeds?
I made paintings based on these drawings! Go go go to there: WEEDS/RUMPAI series.
Evening in Port Dickson.
First sketch I did when thinking of what the exhibition could be.
For weeks I kept finding mysterious orange fruit lying on the ground near a portion of our fence. I didn’t know where they were coming from. Took me awhile to realize they were the spawn of a vine creeping all over the fence. It’s passiflora foetida, also known as buah leletup (exploding fruit) or anggur hutan (jungle grapes), and ‘love-in-mist’.
Wanna see all 30 Days of Weeds?
I made paintings based on these drawings! Go go go to there: WEEDS/RUMPAI series.
Lookie, a cricket came to say hello.
Greetings, my dear people.
So much has been happening. And all of it leading to this:
I’m trying to sound calm. It is taking a huge-ass effort not to end every sentence in exclamation marks.
I’ll just bunch all of them up together here, so this post doesn’t irritate the shit out of you: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG **SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
It’s been a stretch of no sleep, caffeine-fueled madness paint paint paint draw draw email email email text text text for days and days, I can’t remember how long.
I’m going to have to figure out how to make art and tell you about it while it is actually happening. Everything got fucking compressed this time around.
Starting backwards:
I found the perfect space to show the works and have a party in.
I took over my parents’ house from top to bottom and finished the paintings.
They went on sale online. Look: weeds.sharonchin.com
We sent out the invites. Did you get the email? Please please EMAIL ME (mail AT sharonchin DOT com) if you want to get on the mailing list, it’s the place I update first out of all the hoo-ha internet outposts.
The works sold out in two days. **Insert great joy and relief here**
And now…
I’m doing all the stressful, tiring, exciting things to prepare for the show and party on 10 March. One night only, like the circus. Come.
This is my one rule for parties: people should come and feel fine being themselves. The extroverts can rock out, the introverts can sit down and read a book/be happy in their thoughts/have intense one-on-one conversations. You can be cool, you can be nerdy, you can be moody, you can be angry. You can be… WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT.
A million and one details.
How do I hang the works?
Will there be enough fans? (If you’re coming, wear light casual clothes. Merdekarya can get a bit warm)
Finding enough fucking plastic spoons for the amazing food that my chef brother, Darren Chin is making for the day.
Bringing artworks as gifts for the people who are performing at the open mic.
But most importantly…
WHAT DO I WEAR?????
Won’t be shaving. No time.
I love you guys. See you there!
PS. There will be dancing
~
One of the first things I did after moving to Port Dickson was start a compost heap. There’s a patch of ground right next to it that seems to spawn particularly interesting and diverse weeds. This was one of them. I love the shape of the leaves and suddenly this tall stem shooting out of them crowned with pink flowers. Sexy.
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:
