EXHIBITION

The Ways of Seeing is CULT Gallery’s annual platform for emerging artists. It is curated as a group show but each artist presents a body of work (as opposed to a single work), to capture a sense of the artists' practice early in their careers. Choosing to curate the show this way invites us to dive into each artist's unique approaches and concepts, while the artworks interact with each other in the show.

This year’s fifth edition of Ways of Seeing features seven artists with diverse methods and media. Artists such as Adam Badruddin Syah, Luqman Ismail and Izhar Yusrin bring together works that are familiar in the fine art realm (painting and printmaking), while Ayue Juman, Chau Xien and Xeem Noor express craft techniques in contemporary art with cross-stitch, rattan weaving, beadwork and embroidery. Shin Yen conjures text-based works that play poetically with the space through mirrors as her choice of medium. With such a variety of approaches, these artists communicate their place in the world through a visual language they have made their own, early in their careers.

Art as a method and approach to comprehending our environment is inherently human. For Luqman, the message is in the technique. His vibrant and textural works are the result of a printmaking technique he developed through “masking with water”. His earlier, small-scale works do not have solid objects in them, but indicate through familiar forms that something is there. As an artist who navigates a life with astigmatism, through his artwork, he puts on a lens for us to experience the world in distorted colours and textures. In Sight O’clock, all forms are stripped from the canvas as Luqman calls into focus the colour spectrum of moving time and the feeling it invokes.

With small, thin brush strokes and local subject matter, Adam Badruddin’s paintings are a breath of fresh air into both narrative and style. The emphasis on depicting light, motion and subject echoes the French Impressionist movement of the 19th century. His works are an example of environmental sensitivity, indicated by the choice of colour. This is in recognition of Asia's unique ecology and geography that translates light differently in contrast to the familiar tones and hues typical of the impressionists of the West. In continuity with the tradition of capturing daily life, Adam opens the door for us to peer into his world, much like Degas who once upon a time captured the unguarded moments and the personal worlds of his subject through his paintings.

At a glance, Izhar’s body of work gives the impression of play with the use of pastel colours and cartoon-like characters. Upon closer viewing, we begin to notice that the objects in the environment are 2D props common in theatrical settings. The road, an indication of a direction, leads a character to fall into the abyss, “succumb to the sequence” that is endless. Through this body work, Izhar brings to the forefront the question of fate that exclusively exists behind the scenes and out of the control of actors on stage, parallel to the human experience of divine fate in the hands of God. In a sense, his works tap into the universal human feeling of helplessness countered by a similarly human drive to persevere against all odds.

Just as breaking through dimensions can serve as escapism, it can also manifest as deep engrossment. For Chau Xien, repetition is not merely a formal element but a means of understanding how memory unfolds over time. Like the mind returning to moments from the past—each recollection subtly shifting through her meticulous technique of embroidery and beadwork. Through concentration and repetition, details resurface, their meanings and emotions continuously morphing. Complementing the flowers is a small beaded poem titled Remember to Remember. Framed like a personal note, it embodies the quiet, persistent effort to hold onto fleeting moments, even as they inevitably change.

Building on the themes of worlds and perception, Xeem Noor’s work draws from the philosophical concepts of “lifeworlds” and meshwork to explore intersubjective realities—how our understanding of the world is shaped through an intricate web of social, cultural, and relational experiences. The circular form, enclosing delicate cross-stitch and crochet, becomes a cosmos unto itself, rich with layers of meaning. As one peers into the details, a whole world emerges—each multistrand thread woven into the cross-stitch offering a shifting perspective when viewed from different angles. Within this lifeworld of textures, multiple realities coexist, each unfolding at different stages of development. From afar, they may appear similar, yet up close, they reveal unexpected complexities. Through interactions with these abstract pieces, we as viewers are bringing our own lifeworlds into play.

As conversations around local identity continue to grow, advocacy for indigenous voices has become increasingly pronounced. Within visual arts, the question arises: where do tactile traditions find their place in the global discourse of fine arts? Ayue’s practice bridges this dialogue through an interplay of Dusun mythology, agricultural rhythms, and material culture. Her works are deeply informed by oral histories and traditional knowledge, translating heritage into contemporary forms. By weaving together elements of music, dance, and daily ritual, she reimagines them through abstraction and motion. Central to this process is the use of rattan weaving. Preserving cultural legacies while situating them within a broader artistic dialogue - of both heritage and contemporary.

As we reflect on the world, the world, in turn, reflects back on us. Mirrors serve as objects of confrontation, drawing us in—inviting examination and reckoning. Shin Yen’s poetry disrupts this familiar realm of reflection, poetry woven seamlessly into her works to be both seen and engaged with. Her pieces reveal that the boundaries of reflection are neither fixed nor standardized. Using found mirrors, weathered by time and carefully cut and assembled, customised to transform fragments into a unified whole. In doing so, her work calls us to pause amidst the relentless motion of the world—to step into another space, one of quiet confrontation and stillness.

Each artist in 7 Ways of Seeing brings a distinct voice, yet their works come together in a shared exploration of perception, identity, and materiality. Whether through print, paint, textile, or sculpture, each practice offers a window into the humane experience through an artistic lens. Allowing us as viewers to see the different ways we navigate form and meaning. In layering multiple personal narratives, the exhibition continues to celebrate the power in which artistic language can transform lived experience into something tangible that lingers, reshapes, and continues...