Last week Malaysian artist Wong Perng Fey arrived in Sydney carrying an exquisitely packed box of neon lights. Why?  Like so many Chinese who travel to be with family over Chinese New Year, Perng Fey set out to maintain that connection with a neon installation during his week-long stay in Sydney.

The neon artwork is the first that Perng Fey has made and is an exciting diversion to his painting practice. It represents another first – Perng Fey’s Australian debut.  Presented by the window gallery SLOT, run by Tony Twigg and Gina Fairley in Sydney’s art district of Redfern, Perng Fey has created a work that is perfect for this space. It activates and energizes this compact gallery 24 hours a day, radiating its blue glow onto the street and passers-by.

Using his father’s handwriting of the familiar saying, wo hui teng ni hui lai – translated as ‘I will wait for you to come back’ – Perng Fey has opted for blue rather than the customary red of the bright “China Town” signage. Blue for him captures a sense of distance and the melancholy of separation.  For an Australian, blue is the strongest colour in our visual memory – our wide, open skies and a mantle to Sydney’s harbour and the beaches. The two come together in this work that metaphorically captures the ethos of this saying.

Perng Fey is best known for his landscapes, which he describes as ‘creating an emotional bridge between man and his surroundings’. In the same way, this neon connects people across time and space.   We often describe SLOT as a ‘neighbourhood gallery’, positioned between a Thai restaurant and laundrette and at one of Sydney’s busiest intersections, it is a most transient location.

Showing for just a week, this neon embodies that fleeting moment with its brilliant light. Chinese New Year is increasingly a popular Sydney festival. Celebrated by second and third generation Chinese-Australians (one of the oldest immigrant communities in Australia) and Australians of European and diverse national heritage.

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