“Here’s Who I Am, I Am What You See” by Ezzam Rahman
Ezzam Rahman, 34, is one of five artists exhibiting as part of President’s Young Talents, Singapore Art Museum’s mentoring and commissioning contemporary art exhibition. (The rest are Ang Song Ming, Bani Haykal, Loo Zihan and Ong Kian Peng.)
Rahman’s work, “Here’s Who I Am, I Am What You See”, appears to be a delicate flower fantasy contained in 34 glass bell jars, lit up from the inside.
However, its beauty has a more macabre side as the fragile flowers are shaped from the artist’s own dead skin, pointing towards the human reality of bodily waste behind its magical aesthetic.
A comment on materiality, the work is also an elusive representation of the self as the human body’s present absence is felt, an approach that stems from Ezzam’s performance art practice. In this unusual choice of medium and its presentation, he explores topics of impermanence, value and worth. Nicolette Sim.
See Ezzam Rahman’s works in President’s Young Talents at SAM at 8Q (8 Queen Street, S 188535). Till Mar 27, 2016. Daily 10am-7pm.
Photo: Singapore Art Museum
