Artworks communicating with one another: “The orchid; the wasp”

A crowd of people standing outside the venue of the exhibition, looking at the poster with details of the exhibition. PHOTO: Raushana

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It is such a sight to see artists coming together, despite Covid-19, to form a mutual dialogue through artworks that build or respond to one another. This form of art-making involves the artworks to have a unique symbiosis relationship with one another.

Normally, artworks uniquely stand alone, however, in The orchid; the wasp, the artworks build on another, giving space for the possibility for diversity, multiplicity and change.

With 6 different unique artworks, from 6 talented artists, the exhibition took place from the 22nd to 30th of January.

Many visitors from all walks of life, had come to the exhibition to express their love for such complex artworks, with friends and family sharing the same interests.

A comic artist, Ms Jay, came with her friends, who studies art together with her. She said: “It is interesting to see the various themes,”. The first thing that caught her eyes was the “variety” of moods and themes each art piece gives off.

Many of the visitors favourited the “two paintings with the acrylic”, also known as local artist, Ivan David Ng’s Honestly and Generously (both 2020). Ms Jay claimed that the multiple layers of acrylic is eye-catching and “interesting to contemplate upon.” Similar to the point of the art piece, Mr Ng described it to be textured and predominantly monochromatic in hopes to compel viewers for a closer inspection.

While all of these artworks are low-tech, the exhibition itself is high tech, as there is an audio feature to accompany the visitors’ viewing of the artwork, giving the visitors a more engaging experience. Due to the pandemic, the exhibition also takes the programmes online on Zoom, having the artists interact with the audience.

It is amazing how the artists did not allow the pandemic to affect their efforts in putting up intricate yet magnificent artworks that communicate to one another. Although we are encouraged not to communicate with one another, there is no better way to do so, through art.