A LEAF THROUGH HISTORY 2017-2022 (scroll down for artist's statement)

The Batik Motif Reimagined
2021
batik on cloth with zipper support hanging system
178cm x 180cm

A Need for Symmetry
2021
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
87 x 92cm

The Dissapearing Smile
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
87 x 92cm

Orang Utan vs. Orang Asing
2022
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
92 x 92cm

Gambir and the Tiger
2022
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
92 x 92cm

The Dyeing Era
2022
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
62 x 111cm

Elephant Dream
2022
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
90 x 90cm

Hunger in War
2021
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
115 x 65cm

Empty Promises
2021
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
66 x 111cm

Banapioca
2021
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
67 x 111cm

Banana eaters
2021
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
66 x 112cm
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Oops Lalang (野火燒不盡 )
2021
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
68 x 115cm

Kelapa Kepala I
2020
Batik (Remazol dye on
cotton cloth)
120 x 200cm
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Kelapa Kepala II
2021
Batik (Remazol dye on
cotton cloth)
118cm x 188cm

Driving at Night
2021
Batik Sarong (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
111 x 182cm

Earth
2022
Batik Sarong (Remazol dye on viscose cloth), 116 x 178cm

Battle
2022
Batik Sarong (Remazol dye on viscose cloth)
116 x 188cm

Olfactory Memory
2022
Batik Sarong (Remazol dye on viscose cloth), 118 x 182cm

Seeds of Change
2022
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
115 x 65cm
Betik Tetek
2022
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth)
115 x 65cm

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Family Tree (Study I)
2021
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth), 110 x 63cm
Family Tree (Study II)
2021
Batik (Remazol dye on cotton cloth), 110 x 63cm
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Here is Where We Meet
2017
Batik dye on cotton cloth 119 x 106cm

Exotic Birds
2022
gouache and lacquer on rubber leaf
25cm x 20.5cm
Surprise!
(After William Blake)
2022
gouache and lacquer on rubber leaf
19.5cm x 18cm
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Tiger
2022
Gouache and lacquer on rubber leaf
23 x 17.5cm

The Oldest Rubber Tree in Malaya
2022
watercolour on Arches watrcolour paper rough grain 300g
31cm x 41cm
Stalk of Bananas- Study
2021
watercolour on paper 39.2 x 31cm


Study for Batik Sarong
2021
Watercolour on Maruman acid-free paper
32 x 40.5cm

Clitoria ternatea
2021
watercolour on paper, 59cm x 42cm
Manihot escuelenta
2022
watercolour on White waston 300g watercolour paper
46.5cm x 54cm


Kopicat
2021
Liberica coffee dye and poly-vinyl acetate glue on White Watson 300g watercolour paper
46.5 x 54cm

Pyrrosia piloselloides
2018
Graphite on Hahnemuehle Nostalgie 190g Paper
42 x 29.7cm
Mimosa pudica
2018
Graphite on Hahnemuehle Nostalgie 190g Paper
42 x 29.7cm


Mangifera indica
2018
Graphite on Hahnemuehle Nostalgie 190g Paper
42 x 29.7cm
Indocalamus tessellatus
2018
Graphite on Hahnemuehle Nostalgie 190g Paper
42 x 29.7cm


Imperata cylindrica
2018
Graphite on Hahnemuehle Nostalgie 190g Paper
42 x 29.7cm
Hevea brasiliensis
2018
Graphite on Hahnemuehle Nostalgie 190g Paper
42 x 29.7cm


Ficus virens
2018
Graphite on Hahnemuehle Nostalgie 190g Paper
42 x 29.7cm
Carica papaya
2018
Graphite on Hahnemuehle Nostalgie 190g Paper
42 x 29.7cm


Cocos nucifera /Orchidaceae
2018
Graphite on Hahnemuehle Nostalgie 190g Paper
42 x 29.7cm




Rubber Brother I
2022
batik sarong
(remazol dye on viscose)
115cm x 175cm





Rubber Brother II
2022
batik sarong
(remazol dye on viscose)
115cm x 186cm




ARTIST STATEMENT: A LEAF THROUGH HISTORY
“The most popular motifs are leaves and flowers. Malaysian batik depicting humans or animals are rare because Islam norms forbid animal images as decoration. However, the butterfly theme is a common exception.”
I come across this phrase on many occasions. It’s repeated so many times that I have come to accept, like many things in Malaysia, that there is a dominant narrative/rule that we simply have to follow. However, through my travels and exploration of batik in Indonesia and Japan, and my month-long residency in Kelantan to learn the craft, I discovered there’s a rich tradition as well as experimentation on batik. In modern Malaysian visual art, batik painting was a popular medium during the years around our nation’s independence. Perhaps these artists associate batik with our country’s nascent identity and potential, with their depiction of idyllic kampong life where people toiled the land to sustain their lives and spirit in a dream-like harmonious dance with nature and progress.
Since moving out of the capital, Kuala Lumpur, and in search of a simpler life to concentrate on art-making, I have discovered the small town I have translocated to: Tangkak, Johor, has its origin in agriculture. From planting vegetables, it has gone through different cycles of plantations on the same plot of land with each new cash crop covering the previous' existence. I am wondering does that also apply to our own existence: Does the new narrative of what Malaysia is covers the layers of our past existence?
Therefore I am embarking on a series of batik artworks questioning these floral and butterfly motifs. I hope to elevate these motifs from mere decoration and decorum. I want to explore these motifs as a way to understand the history of cash crop plantations in this country. It is a glimpse into the landscape of profit, invasion, colonialism, exploitation and ecosystem. As well as migration, setting down root and preserving traditions. Amongst the rows of plants are hidden joy, hunger, love, envy, friendship and violence. And when unprofitable crops are replaced by newer ones, the ground beneath us is overturned and everything that came before is covered in dirt while we live on the surface of things and pretend Malaysia is all leaves, flowers and butterflies.
CHANG YOONG CHIA
28 June 2022
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ARTIST STATEMENT: RUBBER BROTHERS
On my road trip to Patani in pre-pandemic 2020, I noticed the rubber trees on the side of the highway and suddenly I was brought back to my childhood trips travelling along the coast roads in Malaysia. When I was in Kota Bahru, Kelantan admiring the traditional Perahu Golek on the shores of a fishing village, I was surprised that it I was not speaking to Malaysians but to boat builders from Patani who were making the boats.
The invitation to participate in Kenduri Seni Nusantara offers me the opportunity to further investigate into the identity of batik. Since batik is also found in Patani, I am curious as to how my batik artworks, with all its connotation to Malaysian identity, would be seen, felt and thought by the people in Patani. Would they view it as something separated, like the physical national borders that separated us, or would they sense the porousness in our cultural similarities?