Malaysian artist draws inspiration from legacy of Chinese porcelain painters
KUALA LUMPUR (June 27): From her studio tucked away in a quiet corner of Kuala Lumpur, Alice Chang, a Malaysian artist, carefully blends her color palette using various shades of white and blue, which she meticulously uses to form intricate paintings of various objects and animals.
At first glance, one might think these pieces are very similar to traditional Chinese porcelain, and it would be right. Chang, inspired by those artisans of centuries past, specifically the blue-and-white porcelain wares from Jingdezhen — China's famed porcelain capital during the Ming Dynasty — created her fifth solo exhibition, 'Me, Then Blue,' reinterpreting the same style for a modern audience.
'Remember that many of these painters had no formal training, being employed to hand-paint porcelain. Thus, they were not clouded by the thoughts of others and expressed themselves in the purest possible sense. They painted what they felt, what they saw in their everyday lives, each of them in their own unique way,' she told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview.
Ranging from the conventional to impressionist pieces, Chang who sculpts as well as paints, demonstrates through her work the versatility of the style and the colors most often associated with it — minimalist paintings as well as complex works cover the walls of her studio, which also doubles as an art gallery.
The discovery of the 'Wanli Shipwreck' off Malaysia's east coast, with valuable artifacts being found and salvaged alongside large amounts of broken porcelain pieces regarded as having little value, despite the story they told of the region's maritime history, had struck a chord with Chang.
'What truly moved me were the broken porcelain pieces; they shared the same historic value as those that ended up in prestigious auction houses. I wanted to give them a new lease of life, to transform what was once considered worthless into something meaningful and beautiful,' she explained.
'Even as fragments, they shared the same history and told the same story as part of the region's maritime history from the Portuguese sailors who were transporting them, the people and traders of pre-independence Malaysia, and the Chinese artisans who created them,' she said.
In addition to the paintings, Chang also incorporated porcelain fragments into sculptures that she has created as part of her collection. 'There's quiet poetry in working with what's broken. Through art, I hope to honor not just the objects, but the resilience and forgotten stories they represent,' she said.
The exhibition features 20 paintings and 11 sculptures, each a meditation on memory and transformation, bridging art, archaeology, and a chapter of Malaysian history long overlooked.
Chang also spoke of the value of art as a bridge between people of different countries and groups, having met and collaborated with people from all over the world as part of her 15-year journey as an artist.
'We have an affinity for one another. There are no boundaries in our shared passion for art, not just in admiring it, but also in creating it. When I travel to Indonesia, I can stay in a fellow artist's home. It's the same anywhere I go. Art really brings people together,' she said. – Xinhua Alice Chang artist China porcelain
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