Yeong Seak Ling. Kampung Life - Baby Cot
"Yeong Seak Ling is an artist who conceives landscapes as a backdrop to human activity. Through his works, it is clear how much kampung scenes mean to him. Prior to this, abstraction prevailed in his early series. As his experience grew, he turned to traditional and cultural features and heritage as his main focus. The 'Kampung Life' series is a result of his sensitivity towards culture and heritage in the mid-1990s, especially of the northern region of Malaysia. Even at his most natural - a melancholic scene of a rubber plantation with fallen leaves and a feeling of desolation - a kampung house sits in the distance, almost invisible among the ghostly trees. Nature is now in the background, with people dominating the foreground. A baby's foot steals the scene, or cheerful village folk bringing their lifestyle into the picture. Birdcages without birds feature prominently, perhaps as a metaphor. In his recent works there are three important elements: babies, birds and nature, creating a feeling of harmony with the hope that nature will be cared for and preserved."
There are two types of art so I think this artwork should be art for engagement with society as it is based on his life in kampung.
There are 4 steps to analyze a piece of art:
- Describe- The baby who is sleeping in the sarong is the dominant as he is being placed in the middle of the artwork while the nature of the kampung is in the background.
- Analyze- In terms of aesthetic, this art is very beautiful. The baby leads us to look at the cows and paddy field at the back. It shows that the lifestyle in kampung is peace and calm, as we can see there are two groups of people working at the field, one group at the left and another group at the right, while the baby still able to sleep soundly.
- In terms of formalistic, it is not abstract art but a lifelike art. It perfectly demonstrate the peaceful lifestyle in kampung by the using of greenish and blueish color. The curtain is waving which makes us feel comfortable and calm.
- Interpret- The sarong symbolize rural malay kampung, the cows, paddy field and blue sky symbolize the nature around a kampung.
- Judge- This art is very successful as it able to grab my attention and beautifully bring out the culture and heritage of kampung.
