Growing up in a Malaysian kampong (village), the youngest in a large, extended multi-generational family, I was exposed to the endless cycle of life and death, and beheld the power of all things living to adapt, transform, and evolve.
Of all our abilities, I sense deeply that we being both rational[1] and emotional[2] beings who lie at the intersection of perception[3] and intuition[4], objectivity and subjectivity, is what makes us unique both as a species as well as individuals. How we balance such opposing forces in our hearts and minds, as well as within our communities will, I believe, determine our destiny.
I hope to provide a lens into these powerful, but hidden, forces so that each of us in our own individual ways may search and find a path to harmony by resolving these complementary opposites, and perhaps glimpse some reason and purpose in the seemingly whimsical, random ways of nature.
1988-91
New York University, New York. M.A. in Studio Art
1981
City of London Polytechnic, London, England. Full time studies in Painting and Drawing
1980-81
Byam Shaw School of Art, London, England. Postgraduate certificate in Painting
1975-79
National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei. B.F.A
1992-present
Full time artist. New York
1986-87
Full time artist. London, England
1985
Part time Lecturer, Federal Art &Design Center, Kuala Lumpur
1984-85
Dean of Art Department and full time Lecturer in Painting & Drawing. Central Academy of Art, Kuala Lumpur
1982-83
Full time Lecturer in Art. Malaysian Institute of Art, Kuala Lumpur
2016
“Crochet Coral Reef: TOXIC SEAS” group exhibition, Museum of Arts and Design, New York
“2016 Korea Bojagi Forum” group exhibition, Suwon, Korea
“Fresh Out of Storage” group exhibition, New York, 2016
2015
“Crochet Coral Forest” group exhibition. Southwest School of Art, San Antonio, Texas
2014
“Crochet Coral Reef” group exhibition. New York University Abu Dhabi Institute, UAE
2011
“Hyperbolic: Reefs, Rubbish, and Reason” group exhibition. Williamson Gallery, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, California
2010
“Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef” group exhibition. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C.
“Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef” group exhibition.The Science Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
2009
“Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef” group exhibition. Scottsdale Civic Center Library, Scottsdale, Arizona
“Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef” group exhibition. Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, California
2008
“Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef” group exhibition. Hayward Gallery, London, England
“Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef” group exhibition. Winter Garden, World Financial Center, New York
1999
“Recent Works” solo exhibition. 456 Gallery, New York
1992
“Sculpture” group exhibition. Kingsborough Community College Art Gallery, The City University of New York, New York
1991
“Evolution” graduate solo exhibition. Washington Square East Galleries, New York
1986
"Open Show” group exhibition. National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
“Modern Asian Ink and Color Paintings” group exhibition.Korea Culture and Arts Foundation, Seoul, Korea
“Side by Side” contemporary British and Malaysian Art group exhibition. National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
“Intuition and Expression” solo exhibition. Hotel Equatorial, Kuala Lumpur
1985
“Open Show” group exhibition. National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
“International Contemporary Ink Painting Association Exhibition” group exhibition. Genting Highlands, Malaysia
“National Invitational Art Exhibition” group exhibition.Kuala Lumpur
1984
“Ink and Brush Exhibition’84” group exhibition. Kuala Lumpur
“International Contemporary Ink Painting Association Exhibition” group exhibition. Seoul, Korea
1983
“Three Schools Professors and Lecturers Joint Exhibition” group exhibition. Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan
Selected Works. New York 2012
Selected Works 1989-1999. New York, 2002
Intuition and Expression. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1986
My Journey With Plastic. NYC Clay Forum II, Department of Art and Art Professions, New York University, March 5, 2011
Gallery: What happens when you mix math, coral and crochet? It’s mind-blowing by Rebekah Barnett, IDEAS.TED.COM, Jan 31, 2017
Crochet Coral Reef by Margaret Wertheim and Christine Wertheim, Institute for Figuring, 2015. ISBN 978-0-9779622-3-5
The Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef by Lawrence Weschler, Virginia Quarterly Review, summer 2011 volume 87 # 3
Public collections – Bank Negara, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Institute for Figuring, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Private collections – Denmark, England, Japan, Malaysia and U.S.A.