Living and working in Singapore since birth, Ahmad Abu Bakar was born in 1963 in Melaka, Peninsular Malaysia, barely two years before Singapore was separated from Malaysia. His highly sculptural practice consistently finds itself mitigating personal ideas of land, identity and providence.

In TANAH LANGIT BUMI, Ahmad invites viewers to encounter his objects in contemplative dialogues by activating intrinsic and mnemonic vocabulary of symbols. Presented in three groups, the bright green TANAH (land), white LANGIT (sky) and bright orange BUMI (earth) evoke emblematic and often minimalistic contours of megaliths, urns, headstones and traditional crockery. These iconic sculptural forms reflect contained truths earned through experience and profound understanding of journeys with our encounters in life and living. Ahmad Abu Bakar graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with a Diploma in Fine Arts (Ceramics) and received his Bachelor of Fine Art (Sculpture) from the University of Tasmania (Australia). He pursued his Master of Fine Arts with RMIT/ LASALLE. Ahmad has participated in exhibitions in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Thailand, The Philippines, Korea, Australia, and Indonesia. He was featured in Secret Archipelago at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, France (2015); the Singapore Biennale (2013) and held his first solo exhibition, Ini Tanah Aku Punya at the Jendela Gallery, Esplanade, in Singapore (2012).

—Khai Hori

Press release courtesy Chan + Hori Contemporary.