NO MANS LAND (2017)

NO MAN'S LAND (2017)

In his works of mixed media on glass and drawings on paper, Rifqi Amirul continues his interest in transit spaces and border places that is informed by his past experience of daily cross-border commuting between Malaysia and Singapore. His new series explores the physicality of these places and our relationship with them by mapping a psychological space onto the architectural environment. The architectural focus is emphasised by deploying the same glass used for windows as his support medium. On the surface of the glass pieces, he employs both painting and printing techniques: applying acrylic and resin with brush, pouring and screen printing enamel, spray painting and etching directly on them. Sparsely populated by silent anonymous figures, these glass pieces depict cold, detached and isolating spaces. In contrast, noisy lines both thin and thick overwhelm his drawings, imposing a sense of movement and chaotic rhythm to these same places.

Dia-S'porean
2017
Acrylic, Paper, Enamel, Resin on Glass
76 X 48cm

Hujan Emas di Negeri Orang
2017
Acrylic, Paper, Enamel, Spray Paint on Glass
76 X 48cm

Pagar
2017
Acrylic, Enamel, Engraving and Ink on Glass
76 X 48cm

detailed view here

No Man's Land
2017
Graphite and Ink on Paper
63.5cm X 50cm

Concrete
2017
Cement, Graphite and Ink on Paper
63.5cm X 50cm

Tunggu
2017
Acrylic, Cement, Gesso, Graphite and Ink on Canvas
76.2cm X 50.8cm

Rifqi Amirul Rosli is an artist in Singapore whose works often deals with the in-between of things: states of suspension, transition, liminality. He probes into the construction of personal boundaries and speculative states that defines one’s purpose and sentimentality towards a place. He describes the personal connection one has to a physical, or an imagined place, which may not necessarily be a typical home, but could relate to a sense of familiarity, a tradition or a regular activity that becomes a part of one’s identity.