Wei-Ling Contemporary is pleased to present By Hands, a solo exhibition by one of Malaysia’s leading contemporary artists, Yau Bee Ling this May 2016. This marks the artist’s third solo exhibition with the gallery following the showing of The Women in 2013.

With our contemporary lifestyles increasingly influenced by the presence of mass media communication, our more intimate forms of communication seem to be getting increasingly obscure. With this show, Yau Bee Ling has carved out a new artistic approach as a means of addressing this rapid change.

It is with this new fusion of approaches that the artist has developed a more liberated visual expression. At this point, the artist has approached the canvas through forms of mixed media to best expound the slowly diminishing wisdom of “will forces”, deriving from her own reflection of hand imagery. Hands are natural extensions that project outwards from self which enables the human to connect with each other and the surrounding physical world. In her paintings, Bee Ling seeks to illuminate further the spiritual aspect of hands. These new paintings also mirror her spiritual journey, narrating her new found relationship between daily physical activities and the abstract thoughts related to acquiring divine wisdom. These narrative representations are not complete but serve as healing “conversations”, in search of a stronger connection with her creator.

At the same time, through working with her son Zachary, Bee Ling rediscovered the importance of working with our hands. Guiding him through his art and craft lessons, she has been able to see how “will forces” through his working hands could nourish his spiritual well-being and in his formation of relationships with other beings. In addition to this, the tragedy of the artist’s sister’s recent sudden death has also played an influence in the direction her work has taken. The grief experienced sent the artist into a period of deep spiritual healing through working and carrying out life’s daily activities.

Yau Bee Ling’s works have attracted attention overseas and in the past has been invited to exhibit her works in Japan, Singapore, Pakistan, China, Hong Kong, Sweden and Bangladesh. Her works were included in the 2nd Fukuoka Triennale in 2002 and were exhibited at the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan. In 2004, her paintings travelled to the Hokkaido Museum of Contemporary Art as part of the “Soul of Asia: Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Collection” exhibition and in 2005, she was awarded the Rimbun Dahan, Malaysian – Australian Artist-in-Residence programme. Her works have been collected by the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan and Galeri Petronas, Malaysia amongst others.

By Hands will begin showing at Wei-Ling Contemporary on the 12th of May 2016 and will continue until the 30th of June 2016.

Wei-Ling Contemporary is located at RT01 Sixth Floor, The Gardens Mall, 59200, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Admission hours are Tuesday-Sunday 11am-7pm.

Please call 0322828323/ 0322601106 or email weiling.shaz@gmail.com for more information.