Umibaizurah Mahir @Ismail, "Road Runner Series", Porcelain and wheels, 2009, Image by YSL

Tofu, marzipan and little red pull carts were in my mind as I bent down to look at works by Malaysian artist Umibaizurah Mahir @ Ismail, and Japanese artists Chikako Yoshikawa and Kazuko Uga at the Japan Foundation on Monday night last week. It was the opening of Tanah Timur, the end result of a residency and collaborative effort between these three artists and friends. With a traditional residency goal of networking, cultural and artistic sharing, its focus on porcelain made it stand out, since as far as I am aware, ceramics are often overlooked as a subject for contemporary exhibitions and discussion in the Malaysian art world. Initiated by Patisatustudio located in Bandar Puncak Alam, (founded by Ahmad Shukri Mohamed and Umibaizurah), the exhibition was enjoyable for its whiteness, contrast of surface and bizarre mutations. Other guests during the opening, merely called the works ‘really cute’. Hmmm…Ceramics are often categorised as Decorative Arts, with little incorporation into Fine Arts. Grayson Perry is the only artist who has really successfully made the cross over, that I know of. Often its intimate size, delicacy, or roughness relegates it to design, craft, folk, and most cloyingly ‘women’s art’, all part of the lesser arts in the mind of the contemporary art world. Ironically, the more useless it is, and typically larger, the more it becomes highbrow. So size really does matter.

Umibaizurah straddles most obviously the line of ceramicist and fine artist, exhibiting in numerous galleries over the past few years. Her ambiguous, ceramic sculptures are like anthromorphic art toys and therefore warm and inviting. Entitled Road Runner Series the go cart wheels attached to each of these bulbous, animal-like shapes creates a regiment of mini jolly Frankensteins printed with whimsical drawings and chintzy patterns. Their attached wheels reference how fast paced life can be and illustrate the power of toys to mirror contemporary society. My favourite is the first in the series which has a bicycle bell attached to it that could be heard ringing throughout the gallery along with the laughter of delighted guests who were bold enough to touch it. It was through a workshop Umibaizural gave in Tokonome in 2004, organised by the International Workshop of Ceramic Art in Tokonome where she met Yoshikawa and Uga, that planted the seeds for the Patisatu residency.

Umibaizurah Mahir @Ismail, "Road Runner Series", Porcelain and wheels, 2009, Image Courtesy of the Artist

Chikako Yoshikawa’s roughly thrown pots in Pot Series and bowls, Domestic Series swung more towards the decorative/functional category with their bluntly shaped bodies and attached fruit and flower appendages. Her Animal Art cups were the least engaging, reminiscent of curious pottery you find in village fairs. But as an artist her goal is to make useable forms so I can’t fault her intent. And I am curious to learn more about these playful forms which are lifted from the artist’s life, her interest in fashion, Picasso, Matisse, food and the importance of the changing seasons. In the context of this show, these works by Yoshikawa’s had the least potential in comparison to the others to transcend their usefulness. However it was impressive to see her figurative works of dragons, dolls and butterflies in an effective mixed wall installation like a warped porcelain museological display. Her playful Tim Burton esque figures impaled with a metal rod into the cement blocks created a surreal but perhaps unintended darker relationship.

Chikako Yoshikawa, "Dolls", 2009, Porcelain, Image by YSL

Mixed into this wall installation were Kazuko Uga’s Hana-Hana series objects. Mmmm…. The smooth white surfaces flashed a mixture of images from untouched soft tofu, fresh snow, uncoloured sweet marzipan and Barbara Hepworth in rapid succession through my mind. The allure of the object, to touch, to handle, was immediate for me. Their alabaster fruit skins punctuated only by subtle striations, ridges, edges and corners hinted at Modernist formalism. Off the wall, flowers arrangements, spiked with metal rods stuck into yet more concrete blocks (similar to the artificial green sponge available at florists) forced my eyes to navigate both negative and positive shapes. Frozen in time and concerned with beauty it had a meditative aura with shadows of the macabre lurking somewhere in between.

Installation View, Image Courtesy of Umibaizurah Mahir @Ismail

Kazuko Uga, "Hana Hana Series", 2009, Porcelain, Image by YSL

The Artists from L-R, Kazuko Uga, Umibaizurah Mahir @Ismail and Chikako Yoshikawa, Image Courtesy of the Artists

Tanah Timur wants to educate audiences on ceramics as an art form and raise its visibility in Malaysia. I certainly did not understand much of the processes involved in creating these works.  I didn’t know how unpredictable clay can be, that you can mix your own, and that it requires numerous labourous processes to get to the finished product. As such the level of craftsmanship involved is immense and the confidence of handling, is apparent in all three of these artists works.

The intimacy of the exhibition due to the size of the works, the strange stultifying elevating music that was blaring out during the opening and dominance of the resource centre which the exhibition has to compete with makes viewing a mixed bag. On the one hand the lyricism of the works, and the dialogue between the Japanese artists and Malaysian artist is convincingly considered. All the forms, surface, texture and patterns seem to easily fit together like a jigsaw puzzle making the show as a whole, quietly brilliant. However, the more domestic objects through their functionality detracted from their potency as art objects. Umibaizurah, is by far still the star here even though she has the least amount of works in the show, and the largest. Tanah Timur therefore, is an interesting experience and worth a visit. It may reflect perceived female tastes and experiences: flowers,domesticity and toys mother’s give children; especially through it small scale but to relegate it to that alone would be foolish, open your minds ARTERI readers to the power of clay! Yes, clay! No I don’t know much about it either but it’s really rather excellent.

Tanah timur is on at the Japan Foundation, 18th Floor, Northpoint, Block B, Mid-Valley City, No. 1, Medan Syed Putra, 59200, Kuala Lumpur until 16 July.