{"id":25710,"date":"2025-10-01T13:19:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T05:19:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/?post_type=portfolio&#038;p=25710"},"modified":"2025-11-21T12:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T04:51:19","slug":"wlg-incubator-young-artists-show-2025-iwadh-mahadi-trilogy-the-lightseeker-7-october-1-november-2025-press-release","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/portfolio-item\/wlg-incubator-young-artists-show-2025-iwadh-mahadi-trilogy-the-lightseeker-7-october-1-november-2025-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"WLG Incubator Young Artists Show 2025 &#8211; Iwadh Mahadi &#8211; Trilogy: The Lightseeker | 7 October \u2013 1 November 2025 &#8211; Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='artists-title'  class='avia-section av-2z00ymm-d3bf9139aca21714df47f6a0604f44b8 main_color avia-section-default avia-no-border-styling  avia-builder-el-0  avia-builder-el-no-sibling  avia-bg-style-scroll  container_wrap fullsize'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><main  role=\"main\" itemprop=\"mainContentOfPage\"  class='template-page content  av-content-full alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-25710'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div class='flex_column av-2kudwsu-f5ccdf25c9dd48892e3e1af0a74f75cb av_one_full  avia-builder-el-1  el_before_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-first  first flex_column_div '   ><p>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-22lg7wu-aaf567506b8f6d39aaf31b6f32f7d14e\">\n#top .hr.hr-invisible.av-22lg7wu-aaf567506b8f6d39aaf31b6f32f7d14e{\nheight:20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='hr av-22lg7wu-aaf567506b8f6d39aaf31b6f32f7d14e hr-invisible  avia-builder-el-2  el_before_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-first  '><span class='hr-inner '><span class=\"hr-inner-style\"><\/span><\/span><\/div><br \/>\n<section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '   itemprop=\"text\" ><h3 class=\"p1\" style=\"font-family: 'eb garamond'; font-size: 14px; letter-spacing: 2px; text-transform: uppercase; text-align: left;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/portfolio-item\/wlg-incubator-young-artists-show-2025-iwadh-mahadi-trilogy-the-lightseeker-7-october-1-november-2025-works-2\/\">WORKS<\/a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/portfolio-item\/wlg-incubator-young-artists-show-2025-iwadh-mahadi-trilogy-the-lightseeker-7-october-1-november-2025-press-release\/\">PRESS RELEASE<\/a>&nbsp;| <a href=\"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/portfolio-item\/wlg-incubator-young-artists-show-2025-iwadh-mahadi-trilogy-the-lightseeker-7-october-1-november-2025-works\/\">INSITU<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Iwadh-Mahadi-Artwork-statement.pdf\">ARTWORK STATEMENT<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/WLG-Incubator-booklet.pdf\">E-booklet<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nst.com.my\/lifestyle\/sunday-vibes\/2025\/10\/1287485\/emerging-sabah-artist-debuts-solo-show-wei-ling-gallery\">NEWS<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><div class='flex_column av-138s172-ac1c356928ce2e197fbad5d13f0ded0d av_one_full  avia-builder-el-4  el_after_av_one_full  avia-builder-el-last  first flex_column_div column-top-margin'   ><section class=\"av_textblock_section \"  itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock  '  style='font-size:14px; '  itemprop=\"text\" ><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'open sans thin'; color: #000000;\"><span style=\"font-size: 25px; letter-spacing: 1px;\">WLG Incubator Young Artists Show 2025<br \/>\nTrilogy: The Lightseeker<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The WLG Incubator was launched in 2020 as a platform to highlight and collaborate on projects with artists at various stages of practice who are shaping Malaysian contemporary art today. It was founded on the belief that each artist deserves a safe space to discuss, experiment, and create within a supportive environment. The selection process involved curatorial research to identify candidates, who were then invited to share their vision as part of the final selection. Following interviews, the chosen artist, Iwadh Mahadi, worked with his mentor, established contemporary Malaysian artist Choy Chun Wei, over a period of seven months before the gallery opened its doors to showcase the results of his dynamic process. Guest mentor Adam Chodzko, gallery mentor Lim Wei-Ling, and program coordinator Prissie Ong also contributed to the discussions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wei-Ling Gallery is proud to present \u2018<em>Trilogy: The Lightseeker<\/em>\u2019, an exhibition featuring works by Iwadh Mahadi. This exhibition traces a pilgrimage through faith, memory, and renewal, reflecting the human struggle toward light as both direction and devotion.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Trilogy: The Lightseeker<\/em> unfolds as a journey across three bodies of work, bound by a single pursuit: the search for righteousness. Rooted in faith, vulnerability, and resilience, the trilogy draws from everyday materials and the symbolic weight of ritual to create spaces for reflection. Rather than a collection of separate works, it is a pilgrimage through questions, scars, and prayers that map the human struggle toward light.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Each chapter speaks to the others. The first turns to wounds and prostration, where the body bends in prayer while carrying the weight of imperfection. The second gathers collective memory, with sejadahs1 and flags echoing rituals of worship as well as the need for guidance and belonging. The third moves toward renewal, where fragments of pattern and prayer form rhythms of affirmation \u2014 open-ended, never final.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Light, in this context, is both personal and universal. It is not a destination but a direction: a qibla2 that calls the heart back to its path. The Lightseeker rests in this ongoing condition of seeking, trusting that each act of sincerity brings us closer, even if righteousness can never be claimed fully. It is a witness to struggle, and an invitation to hope, remember, and rise again toward light.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Note:<br \/>\n1 A sejadah is a prayer mat used by Muslims during their daily prayers, often decorated with geometric patterns or motifs that indicate the direction of Mecca.<br \/>\n2 The qibla is the direction Muslims face during prayer, oriented toward the Kaaba in Mecca.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Trilogy: The Lightseeker<\/em> is featured at Wei-Ling Contemporary from 7 October &#8211; 1 November 2025. Wei-Ling Contemporary is located at 2nd Floor, Wei-Ling Gallery Annexe, No 8, Jalan Scott, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Admission hours are Tuesday \u2013 Friday 10am \u2013 6pm, Saturday 10am \u2013 5pm. Exhibition is open by appointment only. For appointments and further assistance, please contact +60322601106 or e-mail siewboon@weiling-gallery.com<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>ABOUT THE ARTIST<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Iwadh Syafiq Ikhwan bin Mahadi (b. 1999, Sabah) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work reflects on the relationship between humanity, nature, and the fragile balance between chaos and order. His rural upbringing in Sabah, surrounded by bamboo groves and cultural traditions, grounds his explorations of heritage, identity, and belonging.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Bamboo remains central to his practice, symbolising resilience, adaptability, and interconnectedness across familial, societal, and ecological systems. Through this motif, Iwadh bridges existential thought and Islamic principles, creating works that speak to both personal and universal experience. Evolving from realism and surrealism into conceptual naturalism, he works across bamboo mosaics, frottage, printmaking, and experimental processes with found textures, maintaining a tactile engagement with material and process.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Since 2020, Iwadh has consistently participated in group exhibitions each year and was also part of the ILTIZAM Seni Art Residency Program by Ekuinas.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>ABOUT THE MENTOR<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Choy Chun Wei (b. 1973, Kuala Lumpur) is a Malaysian artist celebrated for collage-based works that investigate urban landscapes, consumerism, and shifting identities. A graduate of Central Saint Martin\u2019s School of Art in London, he has received major recognition, including a Philip Morris Art Award Honourable Mention (2003) and residencies at Rimbun Dahan (2005) and Vermont, USA (2008). His early series, such as Link-House (2001) and Construction, explored urban density and entrapment, later evolving into more fluid, material-based works like Kaleidoscopic Landscapes (2007). Major projects include Here and Now (2011), The Human Landscape (2014, Art Basel Hong Kong), Tectonic Traces (2018), and Encountering Mass Man (2021). His solo exhibition, Changing Identity (2023), and his presentation at S.E.A. Focus (2024) expanded his exploration of technology, fragmentation, and human experience.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-j47hzi-4a90eb8383b0de456937f9c96bd1646a\">\n#top .hr.hr-invisible.av-j47hzi-4a90eb8383b0de456937f9c96bd1646a{\nheight:40px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='hr av-j47hzi-4a90eb8383b0de456937f9c96bd1646a hr-invisible  avia-builder-el-6  el_after_av_textblock  avia-builder-el-last  '><span class='hr-inner '><span class=\"hr-inner-style\"><\/span><\/span><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WORKS&nbsp;|&nbsp;PRESS RELEASE&nbsp;| INSITU | ARTWORK STATEMENT | E-booklet | NEWS WLG Incubator Young Artists Show 2025 Trilogy: The Lightseeker The WLG Incubator was launched in 2020 as a platform to highlight and collaborate on projects with artists at various stages of practice who are shaping Malaysian contemporary art today. It was founded on the belief [...]","protected":false},"featured_media":25721,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[],"class_list":["post-25710","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/25710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25710"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/25710\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26094,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/25710\/revisions\/26094"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25710"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=25710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}