​Siew Chu Kerk

I grew up in a Malaysian kampong (village ), the youngest in a large, extended multi-generational family. Kampong life exposed me to the endless cycle of life and death, and I beheld the power living things to adapt, transform, and evolve. Of our abilities, I sense deeply that we are both rational 1 and emotional 2 beings who lie at the intersection of perception 3 and intuition 4 . We can be both objective and subjective, making us unique both as a species as well as individuals. How we balance such forces in our hearts and minds, as well as within our communities, will determine our destiny.
I hope to provide a lens into these powerful, but often hidden, forces so that we may find our individual paths to harmony. Art is the discipline by which I explore these contrasts: light and shadow, geometric shapes and unconstrained calligraphic brush strokes, monochromatic shades and layered color fields, form and function, movement and stillness, beginning and end. My own journey has taken me across continents to new worlds where I have encountered and embraced new media and ways of expression. I build upon the foundations of Eastern and Western visual traditions.
​My art has evolved to utilizing found objects, both in nature and man-made, which undergo extensive transformation with my hands before executing my art work. Wood installations constructed from branches and twigs require meticulous pruning, stripping and sanding, while plastic crochet is entirely based on material recycled from shopping bags, finding new life in mimicking ancient life forms. My sculptural work explores my thoughts and dreams of the human condition.








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