EDUCATION KIT | ARTIST FOLIOS
PHASAO LAO
LAOS
History, 2013–2015
TCHEU SIONG
LAOS
Spirit of Sky and Earth
3 & 4, 2016
Tree Spirit, 2012
PHASAO LAO
History, 2013 – 2015
EDUCATION KIT
ARTIST FOLIOS
TCHEU SIONG
Spirit of Sky and Earth 3 & 4, 2016 | Tree Spirit, 2012
THE ARTISTS
THE IDEA
Phasao Lao (b. 1948, Laos) is a Hmong shaman who
The works by artists and husband-and-wife duo Lao
has collaborated with his wife Tcheu Siong for many
and Siong, blend Hmong customs and culture through
years to prepare her artworks, through identifying and
the use of textile motifs with figures and compositions
naming the spirits from her dreams. Since 2010, he has
that are uniquely their own. The husband-and-wife
been making his own works. Although they are still
partnership extends beyond that of marital ‘vows’.
part of the collaborative family effort, his works have a
Though each of them has his or her own distinctive
distinctive style and focus more on the history of the
aesthetic and is an individual artist, both play a
Hmong people and their familial origins.
pivotal role in the other’s practice. Siong assists her
husband by performing practical tasks in sewing and
Tcheu Siong (b. 1947, Laos) describes the characters
composition while Lao performs the more divinatory
in her artworks as emerging from dreams and visions,
role as interpreter of her dreams. His interpretation of
the zones between consciousness and dreaming. She
the creatures and abstract characters in Siong’s dreams
believes that dreams are the path to another world,
are then embodied in her large-scale textile art.
a world which she obeys because it elucidates this
one. Her artworks explore the connections between a
woman, her imagination, her world, her childhood, her
demons and her aspirations. With her scissors, thread
and ties, she makes these spirits, gods and ghosts
conform to her will, making them part of the world
which nourishes her and makes her smile.
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PHASAO LAO
History, 2013 – 2015
TCHEU SIONG
Spirit of Sky and Earth 3 & 4, 2016 | Tree Spirit, 2012
THE ARTWORK
History, 2013–2015
Cotton fabric appliqué on cotton fabric (5
pieces) 118 x 107 cm (each)
Collection of the Artist
Spirit of Sky and Earth 3 & 4, 2016
Cotton fabric appliqué on cotton fabric (set of
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2) 351 x 112cm (each)
Collection of the Artist
ARTIST FOLIOS
Tree Spirit, 2012
Cotton fabric appliqué on cotton fabric
427 x 322cm (each)
Collection of the Artist
Image courtesy of the artist
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OBSERVE AND DISCOVER
GUIDING QUESTIONS
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
1. What is the first thing that strikes you as you come
A. Hmong textile and embroidery production is a
into the gallery? Is it the brilliant colours, the size of
traditional practice that is still used today as a marker
the artwork, or something else?
of clan identity and cultural value, and features
on clothing and accessories, and in needlework
2. Observe Siong’s textile artworks and Lao’s series
traditions and ‘story clothes’ (pictorial embroidery).
of five fabric appliqué panels. What can you see or
recognise? Note down 5 – 10 words to describe the
PHASAO LAO
History, 2013–2015
TCHEU SIONG
Spirit of Sky and
Earth 3 & 4, 2016
Tree Spirit, 2012
At home or in class try out some basic hand
textile panels. What differences and similarities do
embroidery for beginners. Watch this short video
you notice?
on basic stitching https://youtu.be/kKnBUa4l2k4.
Discuss how difficult or easy it was and what the
3. Notice the use of textile motifs with figures and
experience was like for you.
compositions that are unique. What is used to make
the textile artworks? Is the technique important?
B. Particular to Siong’s artistic repertoire are the lanky
creatures that represent the ‘shadows’, ‘spirits’ or
4. Siong believes that dreams are the path to another
‘souls’ of her dreams, which her husband Lao, the
world, a world which she obeys because it makes
village shaman, interprets. Dream interpretation
sense of this one. Her artworks explore the connections
has been a subject of study and much fascination
between herself, her imagination, her world, her
across different cultures. Examples include, Sigmund
childhood, her demons and her aspirations. Can you
Freud and the whole range of dream interpretation
identify these connections in Siong’s work?
‘dictionaries’ one can find online. Research dream
interpretation in your local (Singapore) culture. Are
5. In the History series Lao presents a rudimentary
you surprised by your findings? Do you have set ideas
chronicle of his Hmong clan and its family histories.
about how your dreams should be interpreted? What
From his series, what can you identify about the
are your thoughts on another person interpreting
artist’s personal history and concerns?
your dreams? Discuss with a friend or classmate.
6. Contemporary art is often defined as art produced
by living artists that reflects on present-day society
and issues. Do you consider the artworks by Lao and
Siong contemporary art? Why or why not?
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FIND OUT MORE
ARTWORK
VIDEO
Project Space. Luang Prabang. Phasao Lao –
YouTube. Lao NEWS on LNTV: An exhibition of
New Works. Retrieved October 17, 2016, from
Tcheu Siong & Phasao Lao Exhibition go on show.
http://projectspace-luangprabang.com/phasao.html
20/6/2014. Retrieved October 17, 2016, from
https://youtu.be/MQMQNgN-9u8.
Project Space. Luang Prabang. Tcheu Siong –
The Genie Behind the Scissors.
PHASAO LAO
History, 2013–2015
TCHEU SIONG
Spirit of Sky and
Earth 3 & 4, 2016
Tree Spirit, 2012
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Retrieved October 17, 2016, from
http://projectspace-luangprabang.com/tcheu.html
Artsy. Phasao Lao. Retrieved October 17, 2016, from
https://www.artsy.net/artist/phasao-lao
ABOUT SINGAPORE BIENNALE 2016
AN ATLAS OF MIRRORS
AT ONCE, MANY WORLDS
EDUCATION KIT
ARTIST FOLIOS
FROM WHERE WE ARE,
HOW DO WE PICTURE THE WORLD ­—
AND OURSELVES?
Humankind has always devised ways of seeing
beyond sight. Two such instruments are the map
and the mirror, which make visible more than
just physical terrains. While the atlas – a book of
maps – locates where we are and charts where
we want to go, the mirror shows us to ourselves,
sometimes unreliably, and in curious ways.
Through an exploration of the literal and
metaphorical characteristics of atlas and mirror,
An Atlas of Mirrors reveals artistic perspectives
that arise from our migratory, intertwining
histories and cultures, particularly in Southeast,
East and South Asia.
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ABOUT THE ZONES
NINE
CONCEPTUAL
ZONES
The main title of the Biennale is woven through nine
•MYTHS
‘conceptual zones’, or subthemes, which locate each
• CYCLICAL TIME
artwork in particular curatorial contexts. These zones
• AHISTORICAL REALITIES
shape the flow of the Biennale experience, like chapters
EDUCATION KIT
ARTIST FOLIOS
in a book or sections in a poem. Like the title – ‘An Atlas
Time remains a mystery; thoughts about the end of
of Mirrors’ – which is built on the relationship between
the world pervade our histories and beliefs, and we
a collective noun (“an atlas” as the collective noun) and
still dream. At moments, the art museum takes on the
what is being thought of ‘collectively’ (“mirrors”), these
semblance of a natural history museum: a mythical
zones are conceptually themed along specific collective
monster is resurrected as fossilised reality and
nouns and what they hold together for contemplation
chimerical blown-glass creatures roam ‘scholar rocks’
and experience. Artworks located within each zone
at the base of large ink-brushed ahistorical maps. As
resonate on many levels, and at the same time, all nine
if from another time, human eyes, handpainted on
zones coincide, intertwine and reflect each other along
opalescent mother-of-pearl, gaze out from the horizon
the conceptual continuum of ‘An Atlas of Mirrors’ as
of their real lives, eked out generation after generation
a whole.
by the ocean’s edge.
Each zone represents concepts, ideas and ways of seeing
Contemplating cyclical time brings insight into how
as explored in the 58 artworks and projects.
myths influence human conditioning; when, and why,
story tells more than history; and our lives amidst
timespans of elemental substances that transcend
human measure.
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All works are © the artists unless otherwise stated. Information correct at the time of publication. All rights reserved.
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