The Second Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art exhibition catalogue (APT2)

Born in Batu Pahat, Eng Hwee Chu teaches at the Malaysian Institute of Art in Kuala Lumpur from which she graduated with a diploma in Fine Arts in 1989. The 'Woman Question' is dominant in her oeuvre. It is akin in spirit perhaps to the post-feminists and in tune with her Chinese-Malaysian background. Eng Hwee Chu's works are memoirs of her inner struggle, culture, tradition and change, a celebration of her love and marriage to installation-artist Tan Chin Kuan, and an outlet to rebel and break free. They are also vehicles in her quest for truth-a journey into self and, when reinforced by her Christian faith, a communion for self-renewal. Eng Hwee Chu is concerned with what it is to be a woman in a rapidly changing society and about childbearing and regeneration-the hope, the joy, the duty and the anxiety. She is the main figure in her paintings, scantily clad, in bridal finery or in the buff with coy theatrical poses, or hinting at some feminine secrets. Her works, dubbed magic realist for their strange situations, combine in part the childlike innocence of the works of Marc Chagall and the more surreal concerns of Frida Kahlo. The real and the imagined are welded in a plausible flux, with her signature flying rocking horses and paper dreamboats suggesting something wistful and transient. In Prospect 1995 the horse resembles a classic Han Dynasty terracotta relic, but here the pace has switched to a gallop instead of the lulling motion of her earlier hobbyhorses. Just as she feels a trifle bemused seeing a woman driving a car, the artist is in the saddle, naked, a nymph-like, modern-day Godiva straddling the chasms of tradition and womanly fear. But barricades still exist, as can be seen in the overpowering Chinese baroque architectural backdrop, the dome-topped openings sealed with red bricks (one is inscribed with the Chinese character kong, meaning 'empty'), and the chequered floor tiles which are dematerialised with heavenly cloudburst designs, making the space ambiguous. On a giant cross behind the artist is her crucified shadow, an act of divine submission as well as a terse reminder of heavy responsibility as she heads towards real womanhood, that is childbirth. Married since late 1993, Eng Hwee Chu sees conception and childbirth as personally, societally and spiritually fulfilling. This is emphasised by the four cherubic babies swinging merrily on top. 'Childbearing is God's gift to women', avers the artist, though some women may view the nine-month labour as a burden. The holy state Black moon 14 1992 Synthetic polymer paint on canvas 147x213cm Collection:The artist of matrimony 1995 is her sacred parchment, romanticised no doubt, of the vows between two people before God and the uncertain journey ahead together. In a return to old-fashioned values, getting married is shown as a beautiful thing. The bride is radiant in virginal white and her alter ego in flaming red with a baby beside her, thus perpetuating the cycle of life.This work represents a phase in life when Eng Hwee Chu is more mature and self-assured in temperament as well as in art. She is better fortified to face challenges than when she started the series 'Black moon' in 1989. To Eng Hwee Chu, the moon is black, no quibbling about that. In Black moon 14 1992 the artist is held on to by a woman garbed in flowing dakwah [Islamic] dress, symbolising traditional constraints, while in a space on the left, Eng Hwee Chu's husband seems to be pointing a way out. The artist appropriates part of her husband's works, the chequered mat and emaciated hollow men, to contrast the different mental and physical spheres. Eng Hwee Chu's works draw on her immediate environment and space and from her life. There is always an intriguing interplay of yin-yang (negative– positive) elements, essential for a semblance of balance and harmony, in her works. Eng Hwee Chu is a master puppeteer and demythicised Barbie doll. Though she is in control of the line of narrative, an invisible thread seems to be holding her back. Ooi Kok Chuen, Journalist and Art Writer, Kuala Lumpur,Malaysia ART I ST s : so UT H AN o s OUTH - EAST AS I A I 85