Semangat: Restu Padi

Performance Workshop

Film Screening | YouTube (the link will be announced soon)

» Saturday 13 March 2021 at 8.00pm

» Sunday 14 March 2021 at 8.00 pm

Semangat: Restu Padi is a creative process combining installation art, music and movement performance. It focuses on the centrality of rice in our lives. The spirit of rice helps to balance the cycle between nature and humankind. The film documents parts of the workshop process from January to March 2021.

Documented by

✭

Goh Choon Ean

with

✭

Aida Redza

| Dance

✭

Lisa Foo

| Installation art

✭

Ng Chor Guan

| Music

✭ Theyvapaalan S. Jayaratnam | Dance

✭ Lee Kien Fei | Dance

✭ Amira Farhana Binti Ahmad Hamidi | Voice

Supported by

Impress Creative & Editorial

WindRiver Productions

Ombak-Ombak ARTStudio

Cendana

MyCreative Ventures

Penjana

Hai-O

LUMA

221B Media

'Jungle' Bamboo Folly One Year Later

One year later.....
Bamboo folly titled 'Jungle' completed in 2018 at Heritage Park, Medini Iskandar Puteri, Johor Darul Ta'zim.

This bamboo folly towering 40 feet height was built by our local artisans working tirelessly under our hot and humid weather condition. A new Malaysia with many great possibilities!

Design concept by Lisa Foo
Built by Eh He
Project director LabDNA
Site managed by Ahmad Falique
An initiative by KNB
Custodian Medini Iskandar Malaysia

Wandering Padi @ Ansan Street Arts Festival

4-6 May 2019 . Ansan Street Arts Festival 2019 . South Korea

Producer: WindRiver Productions
Artistic Director: Aida Redza
Scenographer: Lisa Foo
Sound and Music Composer: Kamal Sabran
Performers: Aida Redza, Damien Leow and Theyvapaalan S Jayaratnam

It was a wonderful experience to have created an environmental installation art at the street of Ansan city, South Korea in lovely spring weather. With the support from Ansan Cultural Foundation, we are honoured to have been invited to travel for this production from Moved by Padi to Wandering Padi, an adaptive version for the street of Ansan city and for the first time outside of Malaysia.

We hope to have more opportunities for Moved by Padi to travel and adapt with different cities and collaborate with people from other parts of the world by sharing the 'Semangat' Padi (Spirit of the Rice).

Here are the images of our dedicated and passionate performers with the environmental installation art of Wandering Padi @ ASAF 2019.

PUSAKA: Embracing Our Heritage For The Future

17 April - 18 September 2019 . Muzium dan Galeri Seni Bank Negara Malaysia . Kuala Lumpur

WAU - mobile installation art
By Lisa Foo
@ Muzium dan Galeri Seni Bank Negara Malaysia
(Central Bank of Malaysia Museum and Art Gallery) Kuala Lumpur

Drawing inspiration from nature itself,
The transient and impermanent of an inanimate object comes to life!

Wau, a Malaysian kite,
Crafted and flown by human,
Soaring majestically across the sky,
Is in harmony with nature.

While exploring the delicate connection,
The phenomenal experiences and memories of life,
One discovers through our environment,
By passing on as our heritage.

Visit PUSAKA
17 April - 18 September 2019
- A contemporary representation of our heritage.
* Warisan Kemudi Wawasan *
Embracing Our Heritage for the future

Launch opening on Wednesday, 17 April 2019 | 3pm

Traces of Biocameralism: The Art of Impermanence

5-20 January 2019 . Suma Orientalis . Petaling Jaya . Selangor . Malaysia

The idea of impermanence expressed by Lisa Foo through the environmental installation art in the duo exhibition.

Metamorphosis, 2019 by Lisa Foo

Leap, 2018 by Lisa Foo

A mobile sculpture that animates nature in slow motion that synchronise with the movement created by the environment.

Fossil & Mineral, 2018 by Lisa Foo

A drawer showcasing the resources of the earth that took millions of years to decay, which preserved traces of animals, plants and other organisms from the past.

Natural Balance, 2018 by Lisa Foo

A reflection into the natural pigment of decaying leaves in relation with the manufactured pigment of acrylic paint.

Traces of Bicameralism - Duo Exhibition

5-20 January 2019 . Suma Orientalis . Petaling Jaya . Selangor . Malaysia

Lisa Foo & Jacky Cheng: Traces of Bicameralism

There has been continuous questioning on the two ends of the same yardstick: shall one randomly apply pigments on a panel and call it art? And does one do the same thing repeatedly and call it art?

Not all art can be explained and justified. Many find art difficult to accept when an artist’s explanation is dissatisfactory to their understanding, much worse when they learnt that some works were seemingly created with minimal amount of thinking, in absolute opposition to, for instance, the painstakingly calibrated hyperrealist paintings. Nevertheless, this exhibition aims at re-examining the possibility of the underlying human ability in extracting sub-conscious thoughts and relegating them into the creation.

Hypothesising that human minds had operated in two parts, one of which speaks while the other listens and obeys, American psychologist Julian Jaynes ascribed ancient people’s hallucination of “God’s” apparition and oration to the bicameral activity of our human brain. This radical hypothesis ignites the interest in many of us - thus, is it that difficult to accept artists’ whose creation flows out from subconscious mind? Either in the form of a spontaneous or systemic patent, and be legitimised as a fraction of their inner voice? When one’s life experience has internalised into one’s consciousness and volition, his creation shall be interpreted as the ‘distillate’ of his brain activity.

When cognitive experience, memories and preference lateralise into the being, the bicameral process takes place to command the creation. Therefore to question the choice of material, colour or even strokes is a vain attempt to comprehend the works. Sensory output relating to cycles of life in microbial scale and larger symmetry are part of Jacky’s and Lisa’s forte, both graduate architects who have extended their enthusiasm into the study of aesthetics and form, each posing different questions and venturing into unique directions with their approach and refinement into the meaning of fine art.

Lisa is engrossed in the idea of impermanence whereas Jacky recces the terrains and slopes in search of newer forms. One assembles as the other painstakingly cut and incise patterns on paper. Their styles are unique, their perseverance remarkable and an inspiration to those who found great lessons in their endeavours.

Thus it can be concluded that the frontiers of art are not limited to the canvas and the vast inner universe is an open source of inspiration for those who managed to look beyond its incongruity to recognise the underlying beauty and indulge one’s practice on.

By Suma Orientalis

Exhibition runs on 5 - 20 Jan 2019
11am - 7pm daily except Tuesdays and Public Holidays

Opening Reception @ Suma Orientalis
3pm - 6pm, 5 Jan 2019 (Sat)

All are Welcome!

Bamboo Folly titled Jungle

Bamboo folly titled 'Jungle' completed in 2018 at Heritage Park, Medini Iskandar Puteri, Johor Darul Ta'zim, Malaysia.

This bamboo folly towering 40 feet height was built by our local artisans working tirelessly under our hot and humid weather condition. A new Malaysia with many great possibilities!

Design concept by Lisa Foo
Built by Eh He
Project director LabDNA
Site managed by Ahmad Falique
An initiative by KNB
Custodian Medini Iskandar Malaysia

During construction of the bamboo folly 'Jungle'.

Being in the moment at NVAG

25 May - 31 July 2017 .  National Visual Arts Gallery aka Balai Seni Visual Negara . Kuala Lumpur . Malaysia

An interactive installation art 'Being in the moment' by Lisa Foo @ Di Mana (Where are) Young: 101 contemporary women artists exhibition at the National Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 25 May - 31 July 2017. Curated by Koon Tan.

Installation of an interactive giant marionette, measuring approximately 15ft in height, made out of jute ropes crocheted to imitate organic life it takes form. The marionette is installed with a cranking mechanism to encourage participation and interaction from the audience, allowing them to control and manipulate the movement of the puppet. The artist intends to create an organic puppet so that the audience will be able to witness the fragility of life through art and the impermanence of being.

Encore at The Print Room

15 April - 21 May 2017 . The Print Room . Petaling Jaya . Malaysia

Razak Mansion has been around for 50 years as an affordable public housing in the city of Kuala Lumpur and homes to many families in the period of nation-building. These are the final moments captured on film photography before the demolition.

In memory of Razak Mansion by Lisa Foo with installation is exhibited at
'Encore' film photography exhibition at The Print Room,
Opening on Saturday 15 April 2017 and  is on every Saturday and Sunday, till 6 & 7 May 2017 at 2-6pm, 49, Lorong 16/9E, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

This group exhibition has been extended till this Saturday and Sunday, 20 & 21 May 2017, 2-6pm.

In memory of Razak Mansion, 1967-2017.

B&W film photography installation by Lisa Foo.

Medium: Liquid light on cement fibre board.

Moved by Padi: Highlights

20-28 August 2016 . George Town Festival 2016 . Macallum . Penang . Malaysia

Moved By Padi team have been preparing the videos, together with LUMA.  We now could share with you the video of our performance highlights and Beyond The Seeds documentary of the Making of Moved By Padi.

Performance highlights of Moved by Padi, 2016. Click video.

Crew and team of Moved by Padi before the performance. Photo credits to Joie Koo.

We would like to thank once again to all our sponsors and supporters for making Moved By Padi production and documentation possible. 

For more information and updates, please like facebook page at Moved by Padi.

Moved by Padi: Behind the Seeds and Beyond.

20-28 August 2016. George Town Festival 2016 . Macallum . Penang . Malaysia

Behind the Seeds and Beyond is a video documentary on the making of Moved By Padi, 2016. Click video.

Rice is central to the way of life of East and Southeast Asia. It embodies nature and culture. It strengthens human/kinship relations at the table. It is a powerful and evocative symbol of the collective self of a people.

Celebrating the centrality of rice to our existence, Moved By Padi is a multi-arts collaborative project led by Aida Redza (choreographer /performer) with Lisa Foo (installation artist /scenographer), Ng Chor Guan (composer /musician), Sarah Ameera (visual artist) and Mao Arata from Japan (choreographer /performer). The project was produced by GTF 2016, managed by Ombak-Ombak ArtStudio with Production Manager, Tan Hock Kheng (ZXC Theater).

The production initiates a collaborative performance process involving four Malaysian artists – Aida Redza, Ng Chor Guan, Sarah Ameera and Lisa Foo – working together with Mao Arata from Japan. Moved By Padi is a mixed media production that is best described as a creative act. It encompasses visuals, installations and music in an experiential site dance performance to be held at Macallum site.

Moved by Padi transplanted a paddy field into the city of George Town, Penang.

For more information and updates, please like facebook page at Moved by Padi.

In memory of Razak Mansion, 1967-2017

30-31 March 2017 . Razak Mansion . Kuala Lumpur

Razak Mansion—Inside Out was an open studio WIP exhibition of paintings by Leon Leong and photography by Lisa Foo.

It was held on 30-31 March 2017 and later extended to April 1 and 3. The open studio was an invitation for all walks of life to come visit Razak Mansion for the last time before the demolition. The residents are now moving out and by May 15, Razak Mansion will be vacant and silent.

Razak Mansion is the last of the remaining iconic Kuala Lumpur government housing projects from the late ’50s to ’60s. The other two, Suleiman Courts and Pekeliling Flats, have already been levelled to make way for new developments and soon, this fate will also befall Razak Mansion. By March 31, 2017, the apartments where families have lived for decades will empty for good. While residents have been assuaged with the promise of new and bigger replacement apartments, what they stand to lose, in non-tangible terms, is presently unfathomable.

In Memory of Razak Mansion, 1967-2017. Film photography with installation by Lisa Foo.

Colour of Time. Paintings by Leon Leong.

B&W film photography hand printed and installation by Lisa Foo.

Colour of Time. Oil paintings on pegboards by Leon Leong.

Leong painting live of residents at Razak Mansion.

Majestic trees at the open garden between blocks.

Shadow play of Razak Mansion's vent-blocks screen.

For more information and updates, please like facebook page at Razak Mansion Inside Out.

Precious at Artemis Art, We are 5

13-19 February 2017 . Artemis Art . WhiteBox MAP@Publika . Kuala Lumpur

From group exhibition catalogue 'We are 5' by Artemis Art:

One of the certainly more unique visual artists we have had the opportunity to work with is Lisa Foo. Formally trained as an architect, Lisa’s professional life deals with designing things that are permanent. But her installation art pieces on the other hand run counter to the demands of architecture, something of a conscious choice. Impermanence is a key idea in Lisa’s installation works.

The first time we exhibited her installation was during FACETS, the all-women group show we staged in 2015, and our first large scale art exhibition. Utilizing primarily found organic objects – leaves and twigs among her current favourite materials – the installations Lisa creates are simple, yet mesmerizing at the same time.

“Precious” is an installation that Lisa created specifically for this exhibition, and is a reminder that within the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer lies a fragility that is incumbent upon us all to protect.

Precious is an interactive installation for audience to manipulate the movements of the rustling leaves.

Moved by Padi

20-28 August 2016 . George Town Festival 2016 . Macallum . Penang

Rice is central to the way of life of East and Southeast Asia. It embodies nature and culture. It strengthens human/kinship relations at the table. It is a powerful and evocative symbol of the collective self of a people.

Celebrating the centrality of rice to our existence, Moved By Padi is a multi-arts collaborative project led by Aida Redza (choreographer /performer) with Lisa Foo (installation artist /scenographer), Ng Chor Guan (composer /musician), Sarah Ameera (visual artist) and Mao Arata from Japan (choreographer /performer). The project will be produced by GTF 2016, managed by Ombak-Ombak ArtStudio with Production Manager, Tan Hock Kheng (ZXC Theater).

The production initiates a collaborative performance process involving four Malaysian artists – Aida Redza, Ng Chor Guan, Sarah Ameera and Lisa Foo – working together with Mao Arata from Japan. Moved By Padi is a mixed media production that is best described as a creative act. It encompasses visuals, installations and music in an experiential site dance performance to be held at Macallum site.

Moved by Padi transplanted a paddy field into the city of Georgetown, Penang.

Coming Soon!

Registration for passes opens today at GTF office.

Contact GTF Box Office.
George Town Festival Office
86 Lebuh Armenian, 10200 Penang.
Tel: 04-2616308

Fragility of Life

17 - 23 August 2015 . Artemis Art . Whitebox MAP@Publika . Kuala Lumpur . Malaysia
The pieces that I have created are about being consciously aware of the idea "living in the moment", as with our buzzing lifestyles in the world of constant immediacy, most or sometimes we forget to pause and appreciate what the beauty of a moment could provide sustenance to our being.
By Lisa Foo

Walking Around

The art installation titled WONDERING is at FACETS: a group exhibition by Cerebral Vagina at White Box Publika KL, 17-23 August 2015. Curatorial direction by Artemis Art.





WONDERING inside you will find in sequence Walking Around, Discovering the Significance, Connecting the Line, Seeking Out & Looking Forward.

 



This is an excerpt of Lisa Foo's profile from the FACETS catalogue, written by S. Jamal Al-Idrus:-

In addition to site-specificity, Lisa’s installation art is also about impermanence. The art itself being impermanent is a reflection of the reality our lives are lived in a sequence of specific moments. The impermanent nature of her art invites us to savor each moment, because that moment exists once, and only once.

Life, Lisa believes, is about experiences and memories, and the impermanent nature of her installation art is a reflection of this belief.

Connecting the Line

 

The art that Lisa creates is also how she deals with her concerns for the environment. She believes that in today’s modern world we produce too much, and once what has been produced outlive their intended purpose, they are simply discarded, posing a threat to the environment. The large collection of plastic mineral water bottles she amassed is one obvious example.

Similarly with natural materials, such as leaves and twigs, materials most people consider mundane. The art Lisa creates by reusing and re-purposing unwanted materials is her attempt at answering the questions “How can we re-use?” and “What can we create with the things we re-use?”

 Things created for a specific albeit impermanent purpose need not necessarily become useless once the end of their intended purpose is reached. Lisa is constantly finding new materials to re-purpose into objects of beauty, through her installation art. Like someone who embarks on a new venture after retirement, the post-intent life of materials can continue, only with a different purpose and in different forms.

Discovering the Significance

Discovering the Significance (close-up)

Connecting the Line (close up)
 

Seeking Out

 



Looking forward

 

Cloudescape

Oct-Dec 2015 . Photography . Kuala Lumpur . Malaysia

Cloudescape: As human beings, we should aspire to sustain the wonder of nature and life!

For almost 2 months in the last quarter of the year 2015, Kuala Lumpur was blanketed in haze from agricultural fires in Indonesia - the longest haze period. It was sort of an annual affair without fail caused by open burning in Sumatra - land clearing for the planting season, illegal mostly. The smoke is blown over by the south-westerly wind over the Straits of Malacca to the west coast of peninsula Malaysia.

With dense pollutants in the air and over the sky, the days were like dooms day - gloomy and grey, smell of burnt ashes of the forest. We lost the greens of the forest and the blue skies at the same moment for convenience and greed.

Sometimes we forget to look up to the sky and appreciate the beauty we have been bestowed by nature on this Blue Planet that we are inhabiting.

A reminder for us all to being human.
Photography by Lisa Foo

Dreamy Mood Cloud

Elephant Cloud

Moon on the Blue

Floating Cotton Cloud on blue

Slithering Cloud

Golden Sky Land Sea