G13 PROJECT ROOM

2 0 J U L Y - 3 A U G U S T 2 0 1 9

MIRRORMIRROR

E R Y N

MIRRORMIRROR

E R Y N

The Dragon’s Servant121 x 180cm (Diptych) | Collage and Acrylic on Canvas | 2019

Choi ces121 x90 cm Collage and Acrylic on Canvas | 2019

The Forgot ten Garden 121 x 90cm | Collage and Acrylic on Canvas | 2019

The Verdant Cage 121 x90 cm Collage and Acrylic on Canvas | 2019

Vis ions o f The Fu ture90 x 60cm ! Acrylic on Wooden Cutout | 2019

Echoes o f The Pas t90 x 60cm ! Acrylic on Wooden Cutout | 2019

The Forgot ten Garden 121 x 90cm | Collage and Acrylic on Canvas | 2019

New Fr iends60 x 60cm | Paper Cutout and Acrylic in Wooden Box | 2019

She shed Her Sk in and Took F l igh t60 x 60cm | Paper Cutout and Acrylic in Wooden Box | 2019

The Gateway60 x 60cm | Paper Cutout and Acrylic in Wooden Box | 2019

The Of fe r ing25 x 25cm | Marker on 300Gsm Watercolour Paper | 2018

The Sabotage25 x 25cm | Marker on 300Gsm Watercolour Paper | 2018

I s lands25 x 25cm | Marker on 300Gsm Watercolour Paper | 2018

Riva l ry25 x 25cm | Marker on 300Gsm Watercolour Paper | 2018

E R Y N Pe n a n g , M a l a y s i a

EDUCATION2013 Master of Ar ts in Ar t by Research, Univers i ty of Brunei Darussalam, Brunei Darussalam 2006 Bachelor of Ar ts (Honors wi th Dis t inct ion) , Univers i ty of Toronto, Canada 2002 Diploma of S tudio Ar ts f rom Sher idan Col lege School of Animat ion, Ar ts and Design, Canada

SOLO EXHIBITION2019 G13 Project Room: ‘Mirror, Mirror ’ by ERYN, G13 Gal lery, Malays ia

INTERNATIONAL SHOW/ARTFAIRS2018 Taiwan Internat ional Ar t Exchange Exhibi t ion ‘ Yunl in Ar t Together ’ , Yunl in, Taiwan2017 Prologue, Hin Bus Depot, Penang, Malaysia and Space Ppong, Gwangju, South Korea2016 Vice Versa by Ar temis Ar t , Ar t Jogjakar ta, Jogjakar ta Young Ar t Taipei Ar t Expo (wi th Ar temis Ar t ) , Sheraton Grande Taipei , Taipei , Taiwan2014 Ident i ty Exhibi t ion, Kale idoscope Studio, Brunei Darussalam Express ion Exhibi t ion, Kale idoscope Studio, Brunei 2013 Radisson Ar t Showcase, Radisson Hotel , Brunei Darussalam

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS2019 Vic t ress Niche, G13 Gal lery, Malays ia 2017 Journey: Sembi lan Art Residency ’s inaugural group exhibi t ion, Hotel Ser i Paci f ic , Kuala Lumpur, Malays ia Revis i t Exhibi t ion, Hin Bus Depot, Penang, Malays ia Mampu Ar t Market , China House, Penang, Malays ia2016 Mampu Ar t Market , China House, Kuching, Malays ia Red Bul l EhWauBulan Showcase, Whi te Box, Publ ika, KL Malays ia in the Year 2057, Minut In i t Gal lery, Kuala Lumpur Mampu Ar t Market , Hin Bus Depot, Penang, Malays ia AMPLIFY - Faber-Castel l ’s Inaugural Ar t Exhibi t ion, Mid Val ley Megamal l , Kuala Lumpur, Malays ia Equi l ibr io by Ar temis Ar t , Whi te Box, Publ ika, Kuala Lumpur2015 AB+C Art Exhibi t ion and Char i ty Auct ion, In-Between Ar ts Fes t ival , China House, Penang, Malays ia E lus ive – A Group Exhibi t ion by MEKAR, Black Box, Publ ika, Kuala Lumpur, Malays ia UOB Paint ing of the Year Compet i t ion 2015 Malays ia Award Exhibi t ion, Curate, SENI Mont ’ Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, Malays ia Known x Unknown: Sembi lan Ar t Res idency Season 2 Exhibi t ion, Sembi lan Ar t Res idency Program, Aku Café & Gal lery, Kuala Lumpur, Malays ia Femmes Plur ie l les, Al l iance Francaise de Penang and Women Center for Change (WCC), The Star Pi t t S t , Penang, Malays ia2014 Par t ic ipat ion in the Hi tam Put ih Penang Ar t Open Compet i t ion showcase, Penang State Museum Board, Penang Ar t Museum, Penang, Malays ia “Love, Compass ion” Ar t Exhibi t ion, Galer i Ar t Point , Penang, Malays ia

ARTIST RESIDENCY2018 Ar t i s t- in-Res idence, Acme Studios in par tnership wi th Khazanah Nasional Associate Ar t i s t Res idency Programme (Sept-Nov), S t rat ford, London, Uni ted Kingdom2016 Ar t i s t- in-Res idence, R imbun Dahan Ar t Res idency Program at Hotel Penaga (Sept-Nov), Hotel Penaga, Penang, Malays ia 2015 Ar t i s t- in-Res idence, Sembi lan Ar t Res idency Program (Jan- Apr) , Sembi lan Studio, Seremban, Malays ia2014 Transformat ions (one day ar t i s t workshop), WLG@Victory Annexe, E&O Hotel , Penang, Malays ia Merging Inks Col laborat ive Ar t Event , organized by We are Ar t i s ts dur ing the George Town Fest ival , Penang, Malays ia

AWARDS2015 Winner of the Emerging Ar t i s t Gold Award f rom the UOB Paint ing of the Year Compet i t ion 2015, Malays ia2013 Short l i s ted, Brunei Telephone Directory Cover Design Compet i t ion, TELBRU, Brunei Darussalam2005 Adobe Award for Excel lence in Digi ta l Imaging, Univers i ty of Toronto Past & Present Award, Univers i ty of Toronto School of Animat ion, Ar ts & Design Award in Studio Work, Univers i ty of Toronto 2003 D.L . S tevenson & Son Award in Paint ing, Univers i ty of Toronto School of Animat ion, Ar ts & Design Award in Studio Work, Univers i ty of Toronto

Published in conjunction with the exhibition :

G 1 3 P R O J E C T R O O M : ‘ M I R R O R , M I R R O R ’ B Y E R Y N | 2 0 J U L Y - 3 A U G U S T 2 0 1 9 Publisher

Art Valley Sdn BhdG13 Gallery, GL 13, Ground Floor, Block B, Jalan SS7/26, Kelana Square, 47301 Kelana Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

T: 03-7880 0991 | F: 03-7886 5755 | E: info@g13gallery.com W: g13gallery.com | FB: facebook.com/G13gallery | Design: Khair Abd Muin | G13 Project Room

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MIRROR, MIRROR BY ERYN

G13 Project Room was es tabl ished in 2016. G13 Project Room promotes the new innovat ive di rect ion of those who wish to divers i fy thei r ar ts by ventur ing in to new methods and mater ia ls . G13 gal lery i s proudly to present ERYN, a local contemporary ar t i s t based in Penang.

Original ly born in Kedah in 1983, ERYN pursued her s tudies abroad and received her BA (Hons) f rom the Univers i ty of Toronto in 2006 and her Master of Ar ts f rom the Univers i ty of Brunei Darussalam in 2013. She then res ided in Penang by the year 2014. Making her s teps as an ar t i s t , ERYN already went places s ince her ear ly career. She has par t ic ipated in numerous exhibi t ions local ly and in ternat ional ly inc luding Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Brunei . She has also par t ic ipated in several local ar t res idencies such as Sembi lan Ar t Res idency Program (2015), R imbun Dahan Ar t Res idency Program (2016) and the lates t one in Khazanah Nasional Associate Ar t i s t Res idency Programme (KAAR) at Acme Studios, London, in 2018.

‘MIRROR, MIRROR’ remarks ERYN’s f i rs t solo exhibi t ion, which focuses on the psychological aspects of being a woman in nowadays society. The ar t i s t expresses a v iew that the contemporary not ion of women’s ideals of beauty and worth are deemed to be s tereotyped and measured by one’s façade. Known for her surreal approach of paint ing, ERYN’s works del iberate ly i l lus t rate the psychological landscape of women deal ing wi th quest ions of womanhood.

In re t rospect , her works would make var ious conjectures of reading owing to the in t r icacy of the natural e lements that she is fond of prev ious ly. She would also combine the natural wi th surreal e lements, asser t ing the values of the unconscious and dreaml ike in her works. The women’s sense of se l f i s symbol ical ly por t rayed in ‘MIRROR, MIRROR’, by the use of anthropomorphic subjects . These inc lude women f igures as shadow puppets, or as plants , cages as bodies or houses, e tc. One can also not ice, when careful ly examined, that every subject in a paint ing re lates to one another, forming a complete narrat ive. ’The Verdant Cage’ for ins tance, might convey an at tempt of breaching f rom the presupposi t ion of beauty. In the paint ing, the character that seemed to be fed wi th some sor t of jewel lery by a t rans lucent f igure—is t ry ing to break her body ( the cage) in order to be f ree f rom the crows that sought to consume and ruined her inner se l f. The cage symbol izes the capt iv i ty of the character that impr isoned her inner se l f f rom feel ing beaut i fu l and worthy.

ERYN also executed her current approach of ar t-making us ing the cut-out method that she is current ly engrossed in. Some of the ar tworks displayed in th is exhibi t ion executed in paper and wooden cut-outs fashioned, which approach creates th is spat ia l or d imensional i l lus ion to the ar tworks. Not jus t that , i t a lso creates a l ive l ier and f reer v isual of ar twork f rom the t radi t ional sense of paint ings, making the subjects appear as the piece in i t se l f.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT

I ’ve always been fasc inated by the s tor ies and myths which prevai l and shape our society. I had grown up on Western fa i ry ta les and th is has le f t an indel ib le impact on my values and ident i ty. Over t ime, I began to examine these values and ident i ty, becoming conscious that I ’m a woman l iv ing in Southeast As ia and drawing paral le ls between myth and real i ty. Based on my observat ions as wel l as a compi lat ion of essays on gender and body pol i t ics in Southeast As ia t i t led ‘Bewi tching Women, Pious Men’ (edi ted by Aihwa Ong and Michael G. Peletz ) , ‘Mirror, Mirror ’ i s a ref lect ion upon a woman’s sense of se l f and how th is can be inf luenced by the expectat ions and obl igat ions imposed on women in our society.

Mirrors are l inked to the realm of the feminine and the words ‘Mirror, Mirror ’ d i rect ly re fers to the opening l ine of the Ev i l Queen’s spel l in the popular fa i ry ta le Snow Whi te when she asks her magic mirror ‘who’s the fa i res t of them al l?’ The associat ion of female vani ty as a v ice and the not ion that a woman’s worth is measured by her phys ical beauty is l ike a double -edged blade. In contemporary society, ideals of beauty and s tereotyped gender roles for women and men are also constant ly re inforced by mass media. We can easi ly be mis led to chase a fa i ry ta le ins tead of acknowledging our own potent ia l and worth. This inner schism is represented by hybr id puppet characters wi th cages as thei r bodies and draws at tent ion to the spl i t t ing of one’s se l f to f i t in to prevalent concepts of feminin i ty and womanhood. Though t rapped and oppressed to a cer ta in degree, these characters cont inue to defy the ex ternal agencies manipulat ing them and to take act ions which leads them one s tep c loser to a fu l ly actual ized sense of se l f.

ABOUT THE KHAZANAH ASSOCIATE ARTIST RESIDENCY PROGRAMME

ERYN was one of two Malays ian ar t i s ts who were par t of the second cohort of the Khazanah Nasional Associate Ar t i s t Res idency Programme (KAAR) at Acme Studios, London, in 2018. A programme under the Khazanah Res idency Programme, the KAAR is an in i t ia t ive by Khazanah Nasional Berhad aimed at developing and nur tur ing young Malays ian ar t i s ts , and to prepare them for the next level of thei r profess ional career. Throughout the 3-month res idency, the ar t i s ts were mentored on projects of thei r choice, in addi t ion to being exposed to the in ternat ional ar t scene v ia var ious networking sess ions, s tudio v is i t s , and exhibi t ions.agencies manipulat ing them and to take act ions which leads them one s tep c loser to a fu l ly actual ized sense of se l f.