Joy Wu’s ”Mother’s Love” reflects the feelings of and love and compassion. She painted a woman carrying a small child, with her face away from the spectator. This painting conveys the message: Mother’s love is unconditional. She is the provider of comfort and security.

Chiou Ling Chyi is an artist cum potter. In Admring pottery She painted a woman with two young ones admiring the pottery pots of various sizes. They relax with their eyes half closed. To Ling Chyi, Art is a way of life. Her oil painting reveals her feelings and thoughts about her own life as an artist who is also a wife and a mother.

Zuzila Zain ‘s “Girl In the Garden” is a reflection of childhood experience in kampung (village). A self taught artist with no formal training, Zuzila cherishes many fond memories from her childhood. She uses bright colours, strong lines, rhythmic designs, to delineate the beauty of the nature and the carefree life that she enjoyed when she was a young girl.

Lo Min Wei's portrait "Meditation" has a religious overtone. The young lady she painted is her friend who is also a Christian. Her head slightly looking up to the sky and her pose shows that her inner strength is from the meditation of the WORDS. The artist sees her identity as a Christian who finds peace in her life by reading the Bible every night.

Colourful Life’ by Yoon Sook Fong is a record of her innermost feelings about her own life as a mother. The intimate mood is preserved through the child’s tender reach to his mother’s chin and the mother’s gentle touch of his head. The title of the painting suggests the joy and happiness of motherhood.

WOMEN By WOMEN ARTISTS

 Yuen Chee Ling

Nirmala Dutt Shamughalingam, Kampong series II, 1984, Mixed Media

    “Woman” has always been an important subject matter for both male and female artists. How ‘woman’ is being portrayed is governed by the individual view related to the subject. Perception is influenced by experience.

     How do women depict the image of their own gender?  The keyword is ‘self’. Any woman artist, professional or amateur, trained  or untrained, is tempted to release the secret of herself and her feelings about her own life as a woman.

   “Woman by women’ signals a departure from the norm to reflect the unique sensibilities of women.

   To gain some insights into the sensibilities of woman artists, I discuss the following topics.

Women Consciousness and women art

    ‘Women art’ and ‘women artists’ are terms that emerged after 1980s. Prior to that, art was a neutral subject without gender. The early women artists were concerned about how to improve their techniques so as to become as good as the male artists. Georgette Chen and Lai Fung Moi are amongst the first female artists who receive the recognition for their contribution in the development of Malaysian art. Marco Hsu states:

    Georgette Chen is worthy of our respect because she knows that real art does not result from superficial representation. [1]

Redya Piyadasa in Modern artists of Malaysia notes that Gadis Melayu (1959) by Lai Fong Moi’s reflects a tranquil mood that emphasizes the gentleness of the model.[2]

    Both Marcu Hsu and Piyadasa observe the unique sensitivities of the two artists which is absent from the artworks by men.

Feminist art historians like Linda Nochlin and Whidney Chadwick condemn the art evaluation system for being bias to a specific gender and discriminate the other. The hierarchy of art evaluation consists of the art historians, critics, museum and gallery directors who are mostly male. That system promotes the male’s perspective and ignores the artworks by women. Feminine characteristics are dismissed as “Girlish’, ‘sentimental’, ‘small’… these are the generalized comments about women’s art.  ‘Women are not capable of producing great works of art !”. Such is the prejudice that women artists face. Some have been accepted as avant-garde, feel uneasy with the word ‘women’ as it implies ‘amateur’ and ‘second grade’.

   The 1980s is the era of change and development. The advent of post modernist ideologies that stress on eclecticism provides the inspiration for the Malaysian women artists to explore into the social, cultural and political contexts and assimilate these diverse cultural sources and resources.  

    NirmalaDutt Shamughalingam’s paintings reflect her concern for the women and children victims of poverty and oppression. In Kampung Polo II, 1984, she combines photographic images of mothers and children with gestured painting.  Her works are powerful statement about the suffering of mother and children due to oppression. 

In the 90s, the impact of post –modernism has resulted in the change of artistic atmosphere in Malaysia. Publicity of the outrageous art by the feminist artists in America has a negative impact on the Asian art community.  Feminist ideologies are largely rejected.

   The term ‘Feminine’ is misleading as it has been used as an excuse by the avant-garde to reject the works by women who have personal and idiosyncratic style. ‘Women art’ and ‘Feminist art’ are two different things.  Feminist art in the 70s are created with a political intention. Most Feminist artists focus on gender and sex issues. ‘Women art’ in the 90s focus on the ‘female experience’ from the women’s perspective. 

     Women artists today have the freedom to seek a wider space to exhibit their works. They are unafraid to be in the forefront to express their feelings and thoughts, keen to participate in exhibitions locally and abroad.

   Contemporary woman artists are keen to search for their own identity. For women to have their own studio is the first step towards her fulfillment as an independent artist. In the studio, she has the freedom to paint what she thinks is suitable for herself.  “Self portrait” of women in their own studio has a special meaning. Some woman artists charter their lives through self portraits.
    As women art is a new direction in art, knowledge of the subject is important. It will help to promote a better understanding of women art and the artists who create it.

    It is necessary to investigate deeper into the topic.

What is women consciousness? What are the things to be conscious about?  

Investigation into the artworks by women is to observe the spirituality aspects of women art. Women art is a revelation of the artist’s consciousness about her experience as a woman. It provides the knowledge of human experience.  It has become an important issue in contemporary society.

Image of woman by women
     The image of woman is not as simple as looking into the mirror, making a copy of it. ‘Female sensibilities’ differ from the art of women in the past.
     ‘Woman by woman’ focuses on woman as the subject. Women consciousness is defined by the images that reflect the concern about her own life as woman.

1.         Domestic women sewing, doing housework…

2.         Bright and evocated colours

3.         Self portrait - introspective and biographical. 

4.         Mother and child – intimate relationship-compassion

5.         Surroundings with nature, greenery and fauna.

6.         Interest in fabric and decorative patterns.

     Knowledge of the unique characteristic of women’s art will helps to eliminate misconceptions; it fosters a better understanding amongst the artists, male and female. Such recognition is necessary as it will eventually lead to the reappraisal of the contribution of many talented women whose insights and creative ability have contributed towards the advancement of our art and culture.

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Women by Women -11 Woman Artists Exhibition

Siti Mariah Jackson ‘s self portrait tells about the story of her life.  She paints herself with her hair and neck covered up with a piece of colourful scalf (batik) . As a Malay woman staying in the USA for 15 years, she feels the strong urge to return to her own roots by wearing the headwear which reflects her Malaysian cultural identity.

Lee Hui Lan expresses the reality of her own life through colours. She paints herself in patterned squares to suggest women's colourful existence. She uses ’blue’ for her lips and eyebrows to suggest the influence of cosmetics on women’s life. All women uses cosmetic to emphasize their eyes and lips.

"Flashes in My Mind" by Elsie Lee is related to the artist own experiences of womanhood. She depicted a woman holding two babies to reveal her joy and happiness as the gradnmother of twins. Elsie transforms flashes in her mind into colourful imageries - a man with fishing rod, a woman playing the piano, cooking, dining, chit-chat .. arranged into squares by crossing lines. To Elsie, life begins with marriage and love and compassion is the fulfillment of ones destiny.

Nurhayati Md. Yusoff paints the Kelantan women at the market, selling food and vegetables. They wear colourful traditional cotumes -batik sarong and kebaya and headwear to work. Her intention is to bring to the attention of viewers to the contribution of women as dedicated wives, mothers and bread earners. They are the preserver of culture, harmony and peace.

 1st Generation and 4th Generation] created by Teh Ee Ming depicted a woman and a child with patched rug as background. The intention is to remind people of the good old days when women cut cotton materials into shapes and made into the traditional patched rugs and blanket.