Unborn x Reborn – Elena and Aleff

Unborn x Reborn presents fifteen [15] outstanding works completed by Elena and Aleff during their time with sembilan from May – August 2015. The exhibition showcases the individual artist’s work of art and – most interestingly, two joint collaboration pieces.

“Unborn” by Elena is inspired by the belief that individuals live with the problem of choice; and balancing between two or more parallel realities – physical, ideological, emotional and illusionary. Expectations may not be met due to the asymmetry of information while objectivity is almost never achieved in our decision making process. Choices and therefore decisions will always put us in a situation of inner conflict because of uncertainty. The Unborn therefore will not reveal itself before we actually take a decision and make a choice. Elena’s experience in graphic designing and illustration work has contributed significantly in the storytelling process of her works. With her mythological creatures and Russian folklore, Elena presents the current struggle of dualism through them as messengers. Her works are strikingly current as it combines current day iconicism with centuries’ old mythology in a pleasant calming mood. This balance subtly engages the viewer for a moment, as it is easy to be drawn to her friendly works, and be caught in the complexity of the story. Elena also explores a new medium in this residency where wood is pieced together to create “Two-Faced”, a montage of another mystical story.

“Reborn” on the other hand reminds us of our current being, how our existence is directly influenced by our decisions made about our lifestyle choices. Aleff’s childhood ambition to be an astronaut is featured in this series, where this goal will always be his dream. While it may not be achievable anymore, it reminds him of a higher pursuit to look forward to in life. Alike to being reborn, Aleff was inspired with the concept of living a healthy lifestyle during his period of residency, and has adopted healthier dietary choices during this time. Being in a different environment, Aleff was also influenced with the surroundings of Seremban – markets, the coffee shops and stalls he patronised, Hotel Sun Lun Yik and his fellow artist in residence. In an almost surreal depiction of floating food in space, Aleff juxtaposes realism into fictional environments, creating an interesting blend to the works.

A special feature of the residency is for the artists to collaborate on two pieces of work. In Season 3, Elena and Aleff reveal two pieces emanating from the underlying themes of both artist’s message. These collaborative pieces are strong collaborative pieces of the artists, produced with a great sense of artistic teamwork and mutual influences, which embodies the spirit of sembilan Art Residency Program.

Unborn x Reborn will be open to the public from the 31st of October 2015 till 8th of November 2015. The launch of the event will be held on the 31st of October 2015 at 3:00 pm.

Exhibition details:

Unborn x Reborn

31 October 2015 – 8 November 2015

Awe Gallery (Next to Awesome Canteen)

19, Jalan 20/13

Taman Paramount, Petaling Jaya

Exhibition Launch details:

 Saturday 31 October 2015, 3:00 pm

Awegallery

RSVP:

art@sembilan.com.my

http://www.sembilan.com.my