OCT 26 — "Land Below The Wind", Cheong Sung Kin’s title for his exhibition of ceramic sculptures and teapots, is taken from the title of a book written in 1939 by the American author Agnes Newton Keith. Cheong is from Sandakan and the book was written in the same town in Sabah (then known as North Borneo). Subsequently that title has been accepted as the unofficial descriptor for Sabah.
Keith wrote mainly about her domestic life as a colonial official’s wife and a little of her infrequent treks into the jungle. Cheong’s sculptures are of the landscapes and its inhabitants; from his own observations and the family's backyard. He grew up surrounded by natural environments and indigenous cultures and peoples.
"Land Below The Wind" was written in a genial style and is still very readable today. But Cheong’s new collection of forest and mountain settings have been through a baptism of fire and come out the other side as exquisite and unique objects of art. Besides, there are not many artists like him today who use wood fire to fire their clayware.
"Land Below The Wind No. 1" is an imaginative and powerful use of clay to describe living in the middle of the rainforest and having to climb up and down the steps and negotiating the terrain daily. These are majestic trees with their crowns touching the clouds and the branches look like they are holding up the sky. This is not just art but the art of living with the forest.
"Land Below The Wind No. 2" may be an indication of the best fung-shui position to build your house in the natural landscape. Have your house just high enough up the hill to avoid the flooding of the rivers and with the hills at the back to protect the family from the wind and storms. This is a house with a view and clear sky and clouds above. This is not just poetry in clay but the poetry of the tradition of its native sons and daughters.
"Land Below The Wind No. 8" is a well-formed and well-proportioned stoneware of an idyllic village by the river and under the million-year-old forest in Sabah or for that matter, anywhere in the Malaysian forest that has not been visited by loggers and their profitable multi-million ringgit international corporations.
Cheong said that his main aim in this show is to present the art and poetry of the forest and the habitat that he has grown up with and still loves. He added that although our natural environment has been steadily destroyed in the name of progress and industries, as an artist there is nothing he can do about it. What he can do is make art statements with his sculptures and to draw our awareness of what will be lost in the future.
The Art of Pottery Exhibition by Cheong Sung Kin is from Oct 18 to Nov 1 at Shian’s Art Gallery, Lot 3-056, 3rd Floor, Endah Parade, No. 1 Jalan 1/149E, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, 5700 Kuala Lumpur (Tel: 03-9543-4669, http://www.shiansart.com).
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