i finally found the time to reflect on my art exhibtion of cow paintings held at the coin-coin offspace in the months of october and november 2023.
this series old special meaning to me. the theme of identity has always been something i pondered upon. i never knew what a privilege it is growing up in singapore having friends fro different faiths, ehtnic groups and celebrating every race’s holy days and festivals. it is such a given that by age 10, one living in singapore would have tried at least a curry, roti prata, dim sum and nasi lema.
having lived in switzerland for the past 14 years, i am blessed to have expanded my tribe to wonderful local swiss friends and people of other nationalities. but there is no denying that in this current day and age, we are still being confronted with issues of racial hate, inequalities, wars, displacement and forced immigration.
how does one guide our kids in their own journey of self discovery, especially 3rd culture kids? hoe does one explain the insanity or necessity of wars and help them sieve through the barrage of misinformation on social media?
my paintings are inspired by the swiss cows at the traditional cow parade here. i took these beautiful animals away from the mountains flowing with milk and money (sic) to far flung countries; instead of edelweiss and wild flowers, they are adorned with headdresses and regalia of ethnic groups. headdresses and traditional clothes have been used by religion and governments to define one’s social, economic and marital status for centuries. i want these regalia on my cows to symbolise power and express their unique identities. the headdresses are crowns on these goddesses. and most importantly, i want to create a peaceful platform through my art for people to come together to talk, learn and understand our differences and similarities.
thank you everyone who came to my show and for all the love, encouragement and sales!
