{"id":18101,"date":"2021-06-08T16:02:09","date_gmt":"2021-06-08T08:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/?post_type=portfolio&amp;p=18101"},"modified":"2021-06-08T16:02:09","modified_gmt":"2021-06-08T08:02:09","slug":"cheong-kiet-cheng-we-are-dreaming-and-awake-in-the-air-22-june-18-july-2021-press-release","status":"publish","type":"portfolio","link":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/portfolio-item\/cheong-kiet-cheng-we-are-dreaming-and-awake-in-the-air-22-june-18-july-2021-press-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Cheong Kiet Cheng &#8211; We Are Dreaming and Awake In the Air | 22  June &#8211; 8 August 2021 &#8211; Press Release"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id='artists-title'  class='avia-section av-av_section-142ff43b7600746a6e970fde5cf91c57 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-18101'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n<div class='flex_column av-av_one_full-2a9015ff38129c418a3f2eafba3e9512 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-av_hr-a6de236e6c183bbbd700292deacd2b52\">\n#top .hr.hr-invisible.av-av_hr-a6de236e6c183bbbd700292deacd2b52{\nheight:20px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='hr av-av_hr-a6de236e6c183bbbd700292deacd2b52 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 title=\"Cheong Kiet Cheng \u2013 We Are Dreaming and Awake In the Air | 22 June \u2013 18 July 2021 \u2013 Works\" href=\"http:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/portfolio-item\/cheong-kiet-cheng-we-are-dreaming-and-awake-in-the-air-22-june-18-july-2021-works\/\">works\u00a0<\/a>|<a title=\"Cheong Kiet Cheng \u2013 We Are Dreaming and Awake In the Air | 22 June \u2013 18 July 2021 \u2013 Press Release\" href=\"http:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/portfolio-item\/cheong-kiet-cheng-we-are-dreaming-and-awake-in-the-air-22-june-18-july-2021-press-release\/\">\u00a0press release<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/?p=18233\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LIST POETRY<\/a>\u00a0| <a href=\"http:\/\/weiling-gallery.com\/gallery\/?p=18254\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">VIDEOS<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div><div class='flex_column av-av_one_full-2a9015ff38129c418a3f2eafba3e9512 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;\">We Are Dreaming and Awake In the Air<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wei-Ling Contemporary presents Cheong Kiet Cheng\u2019s fourth solo exhibition, <em>We Are Dreaming and Awake In the Air<\/em>. Influenced by her voyage, upbringing and everyday life, the show brings together new works that delve deeper into the creation of fictional creatures and narratives that continue to address the artist\u2019s reflections on womanhood and human relationship with nature.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Buddhist myths and beliefs have long been a source of inspiration for Cheong whose artistic practice is centred on spirituality and fiction. Practising drawing as a meditative practice since her stay in Japan for the 2019 UOB-Fukuoka Asian Art Museum Residency Programme, she continues to discover how other cultures connect with spirituality. Some of the paintings in the exhibition depict scenes in North India, where she travelled with her husband and visited two holy sites: Bodh Gaya and the Ganges river. <em>Under the Buddha Tree<\/em> (2020) depicts imaginary creatures &#8211; animals, ghosts and humans &#8211; from different dimensions, gathered under the Bodhi Tree. Known as the \u2018tree of awakening\u2019, the artist was fascinated by the way it unites and serves people of different genders, races, and origins.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201c<em>My mind was broadened and my life became much more colourful because of this trip<\/em>,\u201d Cheong shares. Upon returning to Malaysia, she focused on finding the right medium to express the tranquility and positivity that the trip left her with, resulting in her latest watercolour paintings. While her earlier works were painted in acrylic, the transparency of watercolour pigments allows her to eloquently translate the sense of peace. Yet, the medium doesn\u2019t fail to surprise her, as its fluidity creates stains and possibilities to be transformed into forms of mythical creatures. In <em>Yin and Yang<\/em> (2020), the artist presents three characters to introduce the Chinese concept of dualism. Uniting the female sea spirit (Yin) and male mountain spirit (Yang) with the creator of the universe positioned in between, the painting conveys her hope for an equal world while illustrating our interdependence within the ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Although Cheong\u2019s works are fantastical in nature, some of her characters correspond to her family members and self. In Loving You (2020), she harnesses self-portraiture, characterising herself as a crocodile-like figure next to her elder daughter. On the artist\u2019s crocodile head are multiple expressions that articulate her struggles of juggling between her personal emotions and keeping her daughter happy. This painting, as with all of her works, shows how her pictorial language is always indirectly related to her inquiries into philosophy, spirituality, womanhood and the environment.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>We Are Dreaming and Awake in the Air<\/em> culminates in an explosion of colour, with an array of Cheong\u2019s watercolour paintings and intricate ink drawings that form a web of stories about her life.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>&#8216;We Are Dreaming and Awake In the Air<\/em>&#8216; will be featured physically at Wei-Ling Contemporary once the Movement Control Order (MCO) has been lifted. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact our gallery team for an e-catalogue.<\/p>\n<p>Wei-Ling\u00a0Contemporary\u00a0is\u00a0located\u00a0at\u00a0RT01, Sixth\u00a0Floor,\u00a0The\u00a0Gardens\u00a0Mall,\u00a059200,\u00a0Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.\u00a0Admission\u00a0hours\u00a0are\u00a0Tuesday &#8211; Sunday 11am-7pm.<\/p>\n<p>For appointments and further assistance, please contact\u00a0+60322828323 or\u00a0email:\u00a0weilinggallery.amanda@gmail.com.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>About Cheong Kiet Cheng (B. 1981)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Cheong Kiet Cheng has won several major awards and prizes over the years, including the main prize at the 2018 UOB Painting of the Year (Malaysia) competition; Creative M50 Awards in Shanghai, China (2016); Nanjing International Art Festival Competition in China (2015); Water Color Category at Tanjong Public Limited Company, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2006). She was also the recipient of the esteemed UOB-Fukuoka Asian Art Museum\u2019s Artists Residency Programme in 2018, where she spent two months expanding on her practice in Japan. She has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions both within Asia and in Malaysia. Her last solo exhibition \u2018Dust and the Silence in the Sun\u2019, was held at Wei-Ling Contemporary, Kuala Lumpur (2019).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><br \/>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-av_hr-a07f7596b1fca85f6595a75d593069df\">\n#top .hr.hr-invisible.av-av_hr-a07f7596b1fca85f6595a75d593069df{\nheight:40px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='hr av-av_hr-a07f7596b1fca85f6595a75d593069df 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><\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":18103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"portfolio_entries":[4],"class_list":["post-18101","portfolio","type-portfolio","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","portfolio_entries-exhibitions"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/18101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/portfolio"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio\/18101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18101"},{"taxonomy":"portfolio_entries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev08.mm-sb.com\/web04\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/portfolio_entries?post=18101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}