1 February 2018

Opening night of Treasures of a Straits Chinese art exhibition at G Hotel Gurney Penang

Treasures of a Straits Chinese, my first solo art exhibition opened on a very auspicious day, the day after the extremely powerful super blood blue full moon eclipse.

It was a full house and I am extremely thrilled by the turn out. Many of my friends travelled from Singapore and from KL. Friends from my childhood days, new friends and the media.

I have compiled a short video so you can have a glimpse of the event.

I am truly grateful and it has been an honour to be able to share my work with such a beautiful audience.

I had been so stressed leading up to this big day but finally i can breathe again. I learnt many things this week and i had to give a speech in front of a crowd which made me panic into sleepless nights. I was in denial not wanting to write the speech but luckily my best friends who were staying with me the few days leading up to the show sat me down the night before to write the speech which I thought I could get away by winging it! Clearly not cos I am not a natural speaker.

Here’s part of the speech

A little story…

On the day of my opening a Malay Muslim security guard walking by his rounds was drawn to the butterfly painting. I gave him a few moments to contemplate on the work and to read the description as he was about to move on, I walked over and introduced myself and asked him what he thought of the painting.

He replied, “i understand what you mean. We have the same in our culture.” Thank you i said and he walked away.

I was moved because of all the paintings that is the one that connects me with my mother. He picked that one probably because it connects him with his loved one.

The description reads:

I dream of you. Butterflies symbolise love and long life. I was once told that the butterfly carries the soul of our departed loved ones.

I was moved by this interaction. The artwork has served its purpose. It connected two complete strangers from different backgrounds to share a moment of reflection, uniting two cultures and hopefully it has made his day a little happier, like he made mine.

The exhibition runs until 30 April 2018

Venue: G Hotel Gurney Penang, Malaysia