What makes some of these local or global creatives tick? In this weekly column, Khairullah Rahim shares his many inspirations and obsessions.
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1. Boon Lay: My mum and I moved into Boon Lay several years back and as apprehensive as I was initially to how the decision was made in haste, I have since developed feelings of fondness towards the neighbourhood. Unsurprisingly, I have also incorporated the idiosyncrasies of the estate in several instances with my recent works.
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2. Tabu: I know many people worship Beyonce. I on the other hand am completely smitten and have always been in awe of Tabu. I grew up watching Bollywood on pirated VCDs without subtitles and listening to 1990s Bollywood on the radio and at Malay weddings. She took up so many unconventional roles even before many others followed suit. She is a genius!
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3. An English Budgerigar: I used to keep several avians and sent them to bird pageants in Singapore. Unlike those who were drawn to the bigger macaws, cockatoos and African greys, I was enamoured by the more delicate songbirds like finches and canaries as well as smaller parrots such as the English Budgerigar. I won quite a few trophies from these pageants and folks used to think there was a brilliant athlete living in my home when they came to visit.
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4. Bodies of water: Perhaps it has something to do with my family lineage; mother was raised in Pulau Semakau and my late father was a fishing enthusiast. I find a great deal of joy by being in close proximity to water. Swimming pools, aquariums, reservoirs, the sea, water parades — they are all lovely.
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5. Stray cats: I am a cat person. I love dogs too! My ex partner was a dog groomer and I will not say I don’t get the appeal but cats are the real deal. Stray cats in particular are very interesting to observe and engage with. At some point, you even learn to set boundaries with them, something we humans need to learn so badly. My niece and I have silly names for them like Sasha, Lolo, Jojo, Mr Brownie, Mr Blackie, Mr Socks, Baby, Poo and Bobo (pictured above) which is her least favourite.
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6. Mike HJ Chang: In some instances, our impression of certain people doesn’t change; perhaps that is our attempt to hold on to these ideal feelings for as long as possible. One artist whose works I have adored and admired for a while is Mike HJ Chang. A work of his, Melting Tile Head for instance is just so weird, so endearing, so good!
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7. Sacha Vega: Thinkers are great, but thinkers who can speak of their thoughts so eloquently are even greater. I am currently doing my MFA in Visual Arts at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University and am so very fortunate to have amazing brilliant peers like Sacha Vega, one of many others. I am now beginning to notice there is a trend with my admiration towards those who are capable of things I obviously struggle with.
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8. Ahmad Abu Bakar: Ahmad Abu Bakar (image is an artwork by him) is an artist whom I had the privilege to also call my teacher, albeit for a brief period during one ceramic elective class back in 2009. I never understood and could not remember anything about the materiality of clay from that class but I will always remember two things he emphasised during class — punctuality and the very importance of just doing or trying. Needless to say, his work (both 3D forms and literary) is simply gorgeous and so compelling.
If you’re done with this story, click here to catch up with our February 2021 issue!
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