Sharon CHIN

QAGOMA > What's On > Exhibitions > Past Exhibitions > The 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT8) > Artists > Sharon CHIN

Born 1980, Petalang Jaya, Malaysia
Lives and works in Port Dickson, Malaysia

Sharon Chin works across a variety of media to address environmental and political issues in her native Malaysia. For Weeds/Rumpai 2013, Chin collected the political party flags that were hung on trees, lamp posts and street signs in her home of Port Dickson prior to a national election campaign, and painted over them with images of weeds from her own garden. Chin is interested in the way in which weeds survive and thrive in adverse conditions, and contrasts them as a symbol of the resolute stubbornness of everyday existence against the flag's association with political power. The weeds have a natural beauty, as well as a sense of the uncontrollable and inevitable that allows her to use them as a powerful metaphor for dissent. She comments: 'we are the weeds . . . we are in the buildings, the cracks, the fields, the roadsides . . . we are many and not alone'.

Video
Watch our interview with Sharon Chin | Auslan Interpreted and Closed Captions