When Malaysian born Yeoh Kean Thai (b. 1966) won the Phillip Morris Award for Malaysia with a large canvas work, stretched and interwoven within the hand crafted, patiently rusted and irregular metal frame – a fascination with all things discarded and rusted captured the attention of judges and observers. That award was in 1997 and Thai had pursued this aesthetic topic and focus for many years before then, and would continue to do so for many years after.
Thai’s technical skill is distinctive, in part, as a result of the subject matter and ther manipulated forms. His thinking process and investigations present images and arrangements referenced to issues and symbols of the Chinese Diaspora, marginalisation and integration, from historical and contemporary perspectives, paralleled against environmental issues.
His work has been shown internationally and he was the first Malaysian artist to be shown during New York’s Asian Art Week earlier this year. His work was featured most recently during the Beijing Olympics, in the East Asia Show, sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Culture. And he is a 2008 winner of the Freeman Fellowship, Vermont Studio Center.
The visual story of rust and metal, started with the antique coal iron, a ubiquitous object in his earlier works, which related a personal story of inheritance, both literal and figurative. The coal iron was his grandfather’s and the first personal gift to Thai from his father. That iron, though largely autobiographical, represents broader narrative for social identity and memory, discernment and treasure. The objects used in Thai’s artistic language grew to include other culturally relevant tools: oil lamps, beetle nut crackers and then to incorporate a modernised and contemporary world – Milo tins, wrenches and screws, chain links and saws. Metal itself is very relevant to Southeast Asia’s historical landscape because of the fortunes created and infrastructure developed, from tin mining.
Colours, initially limited to a palette of earth and rust tones, have become symbolic in Thai’s work - in their own right. Metal and its qualities, permanence and rusting, have opened a world of possibilities to create an unusual language that visually speaks about the meaning of common and uncommon objects, in culturally specific and cross cultural contexts.
ASIAN ART NEWSPAPER: How did you become an artist?
Yeoh Kean Thai: I started my art journey in 1989 when I enrolled at Kuala Lumpur College of Art (KLCA) to major in fine arts and finished the course in three years, armed with a great deal of ‘academic style’ painting knowledge! I was searching for a style and concept to define my art and my relationship to the visual. I experimented with many approaches, some of which I used in later themes.
AAN: How did the work evolve?
YKT: Metal objects were an effective artistic language to address a host of other culturally specific themes. So, in some ways, I moved from a more expansive search to a more specific one – cultural investigation. Now, that more focused study has expanded to look at international concerns. I use objects to create balance and rhythm. Since rust can be seen as nature’s response to mankind’s habit and culture, it is a global phenomenon. The objects I incorporate have cultural connotations, and they need to be understood fully by me before being incorporated into my art, to become a more relevant dialogue.
AAN: From where did the idea of ‘lost and found’ (prevalent in your earlier work), come?
YKT: In my neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur, in the 1990s, there was a scrap yard with a mountain of discarded metals which had such a magnetic draw for me. At times, I would visualise amazing forms from the unplanned gigantic structure of metals, like H.R. Gigers aliens. I visited the site everyday and just sketched obsessively. At that time, these images were not a fully developed artistic language. One day, I was caught in a rain shower there – this junk yard, which was really my open studio. After the rain stopped, the sun immediately appeared. With that sudden weather change, the discarded rusty metals emitted a foul smell that sickened me for a few days. This event revealed so much about what was lost and what impact these abandoned items could have – both on the person and environment, and in particular, a person with no voice. The ideas were overflowing. It was then a matter of selecting which of the stories I wanted to tell first.
AAN: Your work is seen as unconventional and ahead of its time. How did the initial reception to your work influence its development?
YKT: The first world environment conference was held in 1992, the Kyoto Summit. The focus on environment during this year (though environment was far from being in vogue then), including in Malaysia, piqued my interest. I saw opportunity to develop unusual contemporary art forms in a local and global context. This subjective exploration of the rust theme and painting it, began my love affair with rust! It started with depicting the less attractive environmental issues – the negative impact of decay. So the challenge was to present an unpleasant topic and generally unattractive aesthetic in a way that would attract attention – to communicate messages, environmental and cultural.
AAN: What are the stories of the region or country that the work has addressed?
YKT: Malaysia has always boasted ethnic harmony, but recent political upheavals in the growing climate of economic constriction – brings ethnic cards into play and can be quite divisive. These ethnic sentiments may have been submerged, but now, they are revealing themselves. It is interesting to participate in and observe these interactions and distinctions. What is happening here is only a reflection of general human behaviour patterns.
I show these ‘natural’ human tendencies through the ‘natural’ behaviours of metal. There are many analogies and parallels – which I communicate, along with the more immediate focus of creating technically and aesthetically strong work. The depth needs to be there – and the organic development with these materials and aesthetic has permitted me gradual access to that depth. It has been a spiritual process of discovery.
AAN: Have you found that the autobiographical is an effective source for artistic inspiration and revelation?
Personal experiences, if fully understood are a strong starting point. That is where I began, by relating personal experiences to develop my art – and of course, the coal iron was a starting point; then the experiences in the scrap yard; my youth as part of a Chinese Diaspora in a small town, Penang and then professional life in an urban centre – and so on.
AAN: What techniques did you employ?
I approached the story by capturing the rust effect on metal as a representation of neglected or degrading environment and cultural decay. By painting it – I revive it. Most of my early work was primary groups of still-life in surreal, two dimension spaces, at times venturing into infinity space. The forms were generally realistic with heavy treatment on surface texture to depict the rapid process of rust. The work had all the solid foundations of design though the aesthetic content was different – and I really focused on developing and fine tuning my skill. The drawing is now more fluid and the colours, minimal.
AAN: What has spurred you on in your artistic career? What do you want to say - and have the messages changed?
YKT: When I develop a new series, I visualise what the next step is going to be – and that excitement, that curiosity - is addictive; it is magnetic. I challenge myself – and by doing so, engage viewers with discoveries and presentations. Gaining technical skill, building personal awareness – and then, presenting it. My commitment is to communicate the message effectively.
AAN: Will your issues of social commentary change?
YKT: Because I have not exhausted themes through this artistic language, I need to finish the stories. So, I will continue to comment on decay, discardment, separation, identity and global amalgamation. This idea of globalisation is relatively recent – and its introduction has not been without pain. So, in reality, how do we now live together and work together? How is all this supposed to work? How do we set aside cultural differences/histories of power/animosities? So much to consider in the Asian context.
AAN: As you enter the international environment, how effective will the icons that you have used in the past be? Old irons, discards of SE Asian culture? Or have you incorporated more universal objects?
YKT: My work is about personal connection and thematic discovery. The SE Asian icons speak to my identity and to personal themes that I unravel and relate. They also work as analogies for society’s interaction, historical and cultural, and rustic evolution – and as such are endless! So, I speak about the replacement of our cultural mainstays with more temporary objects that break and clutter – about commercialism/consumerism that accumulation represents. About the damage that this accumulation and then discardment, tolls spiritually, financially and environmentally. The objects can and will change to communicate these messages.
AAN: How have you developed your work to make it more challenging?
YKT: To take the work to the next level, from a technical and exploratory standpoint – the manipulation of metal began – and the conceptual challenges started with that. Solid forms melting, to show the destruction of solid matter, of our comfort levels – like our cultural philosophies, like the religious mantras which were so unshakeable in our thinking before the temptations of mobility and expansion took over. And there was, of course, the straightforward message of environmental threats. With these representations and this organic development, I really began the dialogue. I am working now on large pieces, 15 feet in length, using recycled paper, large canvases – as part of an installation. The next show, Crossing, will show these works in an installation format, curated by me as part of the exercise.
AAN: Do you view your work as conventional in the current realm of contemporary?
YKT: It is difficult to define what is conventional these days and what is not. The criteria are in constant flux. So, it is safer to view my themes and aesthetics as ironic. Though the form of most of my work to date may be considered ‘traditional’ and ‘conventional’ in form, i.e. regularly taking on a two dimensional format, the investigation, particularly in the regional context, has been unconventional. This novelty has provided me freedom without precedent.
AAN: What other mediums are you considering?
YKT: I have worked in the two dimensional format for most of my career, but am now developing a three dimensional language because it is another exploration of expression and use of space. The Freeman Fellowship and the facilities provided space. The Crossing exhibition is a product of this exploration. I am revisiting working on paper, and in particular, recycled materials and developing a three dimensional language.
AAN: Has working in a local atmosphere that is often seen as institutionally less supportive presented challenges?
YKT: Challenges are good and they prompt thought, strategy, and resilience. My aesthetic views and ambitions go far beyond the local context. To be able to speak to multicultural, international audiences and have them engage with my work is really the main aim. Audiences do not always have to understand at first glance, but they do need to be drawn in by the work enough to ask the right questions.
AAN: The commercial art market has boomed in recent years, and Southeast Asian art has recently seen increases in the auction markets. What are your views on these market phenomena?
YKT: The creative process and challenge, for me, is separate from the commercial. I let the gallery handle the commercial details. I just want to keep learning, challenging, and creating strong work that provokes response, and makes a permanent and positive imprint.
