What do printmaking and padi have in common? Faizal Suhif’s solo exhibition, that’s what. Titled ‘Stories from the Soil’, the UiTM graduate’s artistic showcase is a soil and padi installation that functions as a visual punctuation to his 25 new works.
Making up this chorus of 25 are Faizal’s oil paintings and transfer prints, whose roots can literally be found on the ground. ‘I like to wander around my living area with my tool kit, and whenever I see interesting textures in the ground or the cement, I will start doing the transfer print,’ explains the artist, whose latest body of work is charged with experimentation.
Starting from the ground up is a pretty good way to describe Faizal’s own artistic roots. Born to a farming family, he’s always had a strong link with Mother Nature; this solo is essentially a poke at how harried the modern world has become in our relentless pursuit of success. Sound familiar? Take a breather and let Faizal’s art feed into your meditation process. The works are teasingly tactile, and the abstract forms are calming for the soul. Failing that, you can always take off your shoes and wiggle your toes in the soil. We’re sure the artist won’t mind. Rachel Jena