Emerging artist depicts the grief of loss
As emerging artist Kimberley Boudville navigates the trials and tribulations of her early 20s, she attempts to gracefully depict it through her art.
A fresh graduate of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore, 23-year-old Boudville seeks to narrate her journey of acceptance of loss and the preservation of the memories of her loved ones through her second solo exhibition of her...
As emerging artist Kimberley Boudville navigates the trials and tribulations of her early 20s, she attempts to gracefully depict it through her art.
A fresh graduate of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore, 23-year-old Boudville seeks to narrate her journey of acceptance of loss and the preservation of the memories of her loved ones through the second solo exhibition of her career, Chrysalis.
Chrysalis is an elaboration of her works from her first solo exhibition in 2020, ‘My Journey’, which explored the depths of her grief in the passing of her father the year before.
“At the time of my first exhibition, I was still very much in pain by the loss of my beloved dad. The collection of works from that exhibition was very personal and I drew a lot from the memories and precious time that I had spent growing up with him.
“In this second solo exhibition, I have matured and grown to accept the loss. There is a hint of light to the acceptance of everything that has happened. In the midst of darkness, I found that I was able to explore and create using my deeper emotions and expressions.
“In Chrysalis, I want to put across the message that death can be preserved and transformed into something beautiful and that pain can be channelled into a creative expression via the art-making process,” she said in an interview with Malaysiakini.
Boudville said the idea for Chrysalis came when she was reminiscing her past - deconstructing the memories she has of the ones she had lost, and putting them in everlasting compartments to preserve them in her mind.
All that we leave behind
Her exhibition, which includes the Chrysalis series as well as ‘Memento Mori’, ‘Memento Memorias’, ‘Psyche’ and ‘The ABCs of Loss’ details Boudville’s creative maturation, using mixed media and installation.
In ‘Psyche’, Boudville rearranges skeleton bones to create new forms and imaginary bone creatures - to symbolise immortalising her emotions and memories of a specific time.
“The idea of using remains came to mind because they once held life. All we leave behind in this world after death are our bones and memories that live on in the minds of others.
“Working with bone remains and taxidermy pieces gave me comfort as I could make them into beautiful works of art and thereby giving them a second life - sort of an abstract visualisation of a soul moving on and reliving through the eyes of the seer.
“Creating this collection was therapeutic as it allowed me to be upfront with death and be in touch with my inner thoughts at the same time.
The Chrysalis exhibition can be viewed in the Back Room gallery at The Zhongshan Building, Kuala Lumpur from May 7 to 22.
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.