Cynthia Foong

Cynthia, since P1, wanted to become an artist and a good educator like her form teacher.  For years that dream was shelved in the back of her mind, but not forgotten, and she eventually enrolled at the Nanyang Academy Of Fine Arts as a mature student ~ while she majored in ink painting, she maintains a keen interest in other art forms.  Initially, she relief taught art in mainstream schools for two years before going full time, teaching art to students with learning needs, that lasted more than ten years.  Of late, she has been reviving a few skill sets that she has acquired as a child and repurposing them in installation art and community art project.  

Title

The Sanctuary

Medium

Mixed media (cotton twine, jute string, yarn, sand)

Year
2021

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Artist Statement

Sanctuary, often explained as shelter, hideout, harbour, haven, oasis, retreat, and many more, is any place where one feels safe and protected, comforted and loved, totally free and relaxed to be oneself.  In general, for the majority of people the home is one such place.  To some, it is the place for food, for sharing, to rest, to convalesce.  For others it may be a much needed pitstop and power bank especially for the emotionally worn out and/or wounded to heal, to be comforted, to be cared for with the unconditional love of family members, with no question asked.

I created this installation with two back-to-back swing chairs, one with jute string and the other with cotton twine, hung over some sand and yarn ornaments in response to writer  Lee Seow Ser’s touching Boomerang  ~ regardless of one’s station in life, everyone experiences good and rough times along the way.  It is during such times, one would need a special place, literally and figuratively, to convalesce, to seek solace, to contemplate, to introspect, to soul search, or otherwise to simply celebrate life.  

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Writer

Lee Seow Ser

Memoir: Boomerang, a local-ties memoir about a place to which I always return