September 2010, thick Argali paper basket (inside is a paper flower made of thinner Argali paper)
| Around September 2010 I was making quite a lot of paper flowers using Argali paper for an exhibition in Singapore. The paper is fibrous and very strong so you can manipulate it as if you were using fabric. It is so strong you could not tear it with your hands but with a knife, you could cut it like butter. The paper was simply a joy to work with.
For the current piece, I felt I wanted to create a three dimensional basket instead of the two dimensional one I had sent to Orah. In place of the flower that was inside the flat basket, I created an image of what resembled constellations, drawn in black ink. When assembled together, It looked as if the basket had somehow caught the falling stars.
I am glad I brought the Argali paper back with me from Singapore.
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'Captured Constellation', thin Argali paper, handmade Indian paper, glassine paper, ink, pen, cotton thread, 25 March 2014
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August 2010, crocheted object with tiny paper flowers inside
| I crocheted a small pouch like object containing tiny paper flowers made from the Indian Argali paper. I had an idea to make it into large installation works with these sack like objects hanging from the ceiling with paper flowers strewn all over the place. I made a few more larger pouches but it never materialized into a finished art work. Without having a proper studio to work in was sometimes hard to keep the momentum going.
The white flowers rest on the multi layers of translucent paper. It almost looks sucked into the gloomy abyss that lurks in the background. I don’t know why I made such a melancholic representation of flowers. It is gloriously sunny outside and the daffodils are in full bloom. Spring is finally here, so why such doom and gloom?
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'Floating Flowers', tracing paper, glassine paper, ink, Chinese ink, oil pastel, cotton thread, 23 March 2014
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July 2010, leaves made from handmade argali paper, handmade beads, plant seeds
| The pieces I sent to Orah in July 2010 were all handmade or natural. The small paper leaves were made from handmade argali paper from India and the glass beads were my first attempts at making glass beads. Two small seeds that I must have picked up from somewhere complete the collection. I don’t remember deliberately choosing to keep to the natural theme but I must have been busy making things and looking at nature for inspiration. Singapore offered a lot of natural beauty. The random collection was somewhat wholesome and made me smile.
I did not start the new work with plants in mind but the small dots reminded me of seeds so I decided to call the work ‘Seeds’. The dots were a pain to execute but I like the finished effect on the glassine paper.
It is becoming more spring like outside. It makes me nervous when the sun is out. I feel pressured to cast my eyes beyond the confines of my work room for inspiration. Maybe I will go out for a walk later.
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'Seeds', watercolour paper, glassine paper, chinese ink, 26 February 2014
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June 2010, a page from a diary wrapped in coloured tracing paper
June 2010 detail
| My grandmother passed away in June 2010. The work I sent to Orah is a page ripped out of the diary of the day when she died. The envelope is sealed. Of course one could rip open the seal and read what is written inside but Orah hasn’t and I probably never will either so the content of the page is hidden from view, perhaps forever.
The new work has pockets made from similar coloured tracing paper containing sheets of glassine paper with black stain like marks. The translucent quality of both the tracing paper and the glassine paper make the black marks hover, certainly there to be seen but not able to grasp.
The pockets are like containers where you try to keep hold of memories but slowly the memories fade and go out of focus which are replaced by new memories, the linear process going on forever.
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'Pockets', coloured tracing paper, thread, glassine paper, watercolour, ink, 23 February 2014
'Pockets' detail
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May 2010, pages from a second hand recipe book
detail from May 2010
| There is something charming about old recipe books, with the brown edged paper and slightly retro table settings. I like finding out about the ‘fashionable’ dishes of the time too.
May 2010 work used both the photographic image and the recipe page from a second hand Japanese recipe book which was published in 1975. It is interesting to think that my own mother would have been in her late 20s with two young children to look after when the book was published.
The little stain I added to the current work is not of soil but more of age or history. The translucent glassine paper acting as an extra layer, like skin, to the decorative paperwork.
My mother is 71 this year. I have been fed by her many dishes which has, and is, creating history in my body and soul.
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'Stain', pages from a second hand recipe book, glassine paper, watercolour, PVA glue, thread, 12 February 2014
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April 2010, handmade book using advertisement paper & catalogue for a book art exhibition 'Centre to Periphery'
| I learnt a simple book binding technique during a book art exhibition I curated with a friend in Singapore. The book called ‘everyday story 1’ using advertisement paper is a result of this newly learnt technique.
The book gave me an idea to make drawings using the same advertisement paper. A series of small drawings came about as a result. My favourite is the one with the little chair. The chair looks as it is floating. Simply hovering in space.
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'Chair', advertisement paper, acrylic paint, oil pastel, pen, 11 February 2014
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February & March 2010, leaf with the word 'treasure' printed, empty match box with the word 'treasure' printed on containing miniature books made of advertisement paper
| A leaf I picked up in Australia became my art work for February and an empty match box with miniature books inside for March. Both of the works have the word ‘treasure’ printed on. Neither of them are ‘treasure’ in monetary terms but if you label them as such, then somehow they take on a special existence.
Small marks and images that appear in the layers of the glassine paper, which I am using extensively these days, are like little treasures that I plant and position deliberately. It is fun to think about who will spot these treasures amongst the layers of the translucent paper.
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'Screen', glassine paper, ink, watercolour, acrylic paint, pen, graphite, masking tape, 06 February 2014
detail from 'Screen', 06 February 2014
'Constellation', glassine paper, watercolour, pen, thread, 07 February 2014
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January 2010, collection of drawings in various mediums
| A collection of drawings housed in a small photo album was my piece for January 2010. It was interesting to see the evidence of similar themes, images and patterns already appearing in the drawings of 4 years ago.
The more recent drawings, executed on tracing paper and glassine paper, are more quiet and subtle in nature. The translucent quality of the paper allowing glimpse of images, enough to drop hints but never the answer.
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'The Gaps Between', glassine paper, tracing paper, graph paper, hand-made paper, watercolour, pen, graphite, masking tape, 3 February 2014
Detail from 'The Gaps Between'
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 October, November & December 2009, glassine paper bag with wool, small piece of glass with tree engraving, small envelope with cut out images of precious jewels  December 2009 detail | Three months worth of art works. I must have been busy at the end of 2009.
My favourite is the little purple envelope with the word ‘treasure’ printed on in Lettraset. Inside are cut out images of beautiful rings all sporting large precious gems. Beautiful to look at and a bit tongue in cheek as December is Christmas season, which means gifts and cut out rings just seem so desperate!
It reminds me of the glitzy, artificial Christmas that we enjoyed so much in Singapore.
January in Winchester is cold, wet and gray. A sense of melancholy in the air. The three new works I made all seem to be weighed down by the grayness. Even the piece called ‘Treasure’ is like a fingerprint, treasure referring, perhaps to identity, not the sparkly diamonds and rubies of December 2009.
|  'X-ray', glassine paper bag, wool, 20 January 2014  'Tree', tracing paper, black cardboard, 29 January 2014  'Treasure', ink, graphite and watercolour on paper, 29 January 2014 |
September 2009, freebie postcard, tiny sushi bento box
| We used to pick up freebie postcards from a stand near the ballet school. I would have to empty the children’s bags regularly as they had a fetish for hoarding these cards.
I was using one as a pallet for a small painting I was working on. I sent it to Orah as the September 2009 piece with a miniature bento box I found in a souvenir shop down Orchard Road. The shop owner told me that he had them made in Indonesia as miniature food was popular with the Japanese tourists.
A lot of care and attention go into making a bento box. Not only is it nutritious, it can be a form of communication as well. Some moms will place little messages in the bento box for their children to read at lunchtime or the bento itself can act as a proof of love and care a mother provides for her family.
I am dreaming about a virtual bento box. Of course, with a large red juicy umeboshi plum in the middle.
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'Virtual Bento Box', glassine paper, images of food, cotton thread, 24 January 2014
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