SINGAPORE: One fell in love with it, the other grew up with it. But for young artists Nur Hikmah Bte Mohamed Tahir and Lian Sutton, embracing the disciplines of their choice had a twist – they were both outsiders who pursued art forms that conventionally weren’t quite up their alley.
For Malay art student Hikmah, it was taking up Chinese ink painting. And for Eurasian theatre actor Sutton, it was growing up learning the Malay martial art of silat. We had a chat with these “outsider” artists who bucked the trend and crossed artistic boundaries.
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Hikmah fell in love with Chinese ink painting during her first year at NAFA. (Photo: Mayo Martin)
‘I LOVE USING MY SEAL’: NUR HIKMAH’S WORLD OF CHINESE INK PAINTING
At Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), there’s an ongoing Chinese ink painting exhibition. And among works you’d normally expect to see at such shows, there’s one that curiously stands out – a painting of a young girl wearing a hijab and riding a skateboard.
It’s a self-portrait done by Nur Hikmah Bte Mohamed Tahir, who has the distinction of being the school’s only non-Chinese student majoring in Chinese ink painting.
Currently in her third year as a fine art diploma student, the 21-year-old Hikmah – or Emma, as her lecturers and classmates fondly call her – was drawn to the discipline during her first year.
“It was a medium that was new to me, which I had never done before,” she said.
After noticing Hikmah’s interest, one of her seniors, artist Ho Seok Kee, urged her to take the plunge.
“She said it was a rare opportunity for a Malay artist who had no Chinese background to take up Chinese ink painting, and that it was a good experience. She really pushed me to apply for it as a major course, and it ended up being my first choice,” said Hikmah, who cited contemporary Chinese ink artist Hong Sek Chern as among the ones she admires.
But it also proved to be a completely different world. Non-Chinese students were a rarity – the last one at NAFA was a student from India who graduated in 2010 – and suffice to say, it was uncharted territory for a young Malay student trying to find her footing not just in the world of Chinese ink painting but in the world of art in general.
Two of Nur Hikmah’s paintings, which are currently on exhibit at NAFA’s Ink And The Mind exhibition. From left: Renungan Terakhir and t’Urban Sk8. (Photo: Mayo Martin)
Hikmah, who had previously done a digital animation course at the Institute of Technical Education before going to NAFA, admitted she felt demoralised during her first semester as a Chinese ink painting major.
“I would look around and my friends were already doing painting assignments while I was still stuck doing practice work,” she recalled.
Writing Chinese characters was also one of the pressures she faced. “I would always stay back after school and practice my calligraphy.”
With her lecturers often conducting classes in Mandarin and her five other classmates fluent speakers, language was a huge hurdle for Hikmah.
Thankfully, her classmates and lecturers were all supportive. “If there’s some important part, my friends will translate for me,” she said, adding that she now feels comfortable with the situation. (She tried taking conversational Mandarin classes, but said it hasn’t been much of a help when it comes to talking about art at school.)
One of her lecturers, artist Tan Kee Sek, said: “She surprises us when she speaks about her work and ideas. She is extremely interested in Chinese culture and her work is definitely on par with her classmates. I hope she will continue to strive in her efforts to achieve good results.”
Indeed, these minor roadbumps haven’t stopped Hikmah from learning more about her chosen artistic discipline, and the culture that comes with it. “I do a lot of research in libraries to understand more deeply about ancient Chinese history, and Chinese ink painting from the traditional to the contemporary.”
Nur Hikmah at her workspace at NAFA. (Photo: Mayo Martin)
Among the aspects that attracted her to the discipline were the brushes and the brushstrokes used.
“At first, I thought we could use any brush and hold them any way we wanted, but it turned out there were many techniques. Sometimes, I’d have to hold three brushes in one hand at the same time!” she said, with a laugh.
She has also grown to love one of the things that had initially daunted her – signing off her work in Chinese characters. “It’s the unique thing that I love the most, now, the signing off -writing the dates, the month, my name; and using my seal,” she said, pointing out that she for her paintings, she signs off with her Arabic and Chinese name (for the latter, she was given the name Ai Ma).
While she is currently exploring more abstract expressionist styles, she also does more traditional works. One of the three paintings at the ongoing NAFA exhibition is a still life of mushrooms and pumpkins.
At the same time, she asserts her identity in this unique context, as seen in her skateboard self-portrait. The painting, which is titled t’Urban Sk8, isn’t just in dialogue with the works of Chinese artists in the exhibition. As an avid skateboarder, the portrait of her wearing a hijab was also a statement on Malay conventions and norms.
“As a hijabist, I get a lot of stares when I use the skateboard, which some might think is not modest. But I want society to know that even though I wear a hijab, my passion for skateboarding activities is something between me and God,” she said.
Details from some of Hikmah’s paintings. (Photo: Mayo Martin)
Hikmah, however, admits to feeling pressure from her unique situation. “Since a lot of people in school know I’m the only Malay student in the cohort, I don’t want to let them down. I want to excite them,” she said.
But she has largely been getting support, especially from her family. After the initial surprise at her decision, her parents are now proud of her achivements, she said. “They’ve seen my works and know that I gave my 100 per cent.”
In fact, her parents had jokingly compared her to Malaysian singer-songwriter Shila Amzah, who has broken into the Mandopop scenes in Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, with her Mandarin singles.
“She’s now one of my inspirations, as a Malay whose career and success has reached across to Chinese people,” she said.
As the only Malay Chinese ink painting student at NAFA, she hopes that her bold move would encourage others to engage with cultural experiences beyond their own. “We gain new knowledge listening or hearing stories behind other people’s cultures, but to experience it yourself is a different thing altogether.”
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Singapore-based actor Lian Sutton has been a silat practitioner for 10 years. (Photo: Mayo Martin)
‘I MOVE LIKE A MALAY BOY’: EURASIAN ACTOR LIAN SUTTON’S SILAT ADVENTURES
Singapore theatre goers may recognise Lian Sutton as an emerging talent in scene (up next: The Necessary Stage’s Those Who Can’t, Teach). But before he pursued an acting career, the 24-year-old was busting his moves in another arena – as a silat practitioner.
Thanks to his parents, the Singapore-based actor grew up in Malaysia living and breathing martial arts – both his British father Nigel and Malaysian Chinese mother Fong taught a variety of fighting techniques.
And of all the different forms he was exposed to, it was the Malay martial art that captured his imagination.
“It was very magical to me,” the Eurasian actor told Channel NewsAsia. “Like most teenagers, I was immersed in the world of Star Wars and Harry Potter, and what I was learning in silat was directly relatable. Going to a keris (Malay dagger) shop was a bit like Harry Potter in a wand shop. And then there’s the code of conduct, the brotherhood – I think that’s what drew me in. It was a completely different world.”
But Sutton was himself a bit different from all the other boys who were studying silat. Like his father, he was immersed in a traditional art form very few non-Malays were learning at that time.
He first took it up around the age of nine under a Malay guru named Azlan Ghanie in Kuala Lumpur, where he learned a silat style involving a keris. “I was the only mixed kid. There were a few Chinese boys but they were mostly Malays,” he recalled.
When the family moved to Penang a couple of years later, it was the same situation under his second guru, Zainal Abidin Shaikh Awab, under whom he learned silat tua, another style that had its roots in the ancient Malay kingdom of Pattani, in what is now southern Thailand and northern Malaysia.
A young Lian (left) sparring with a “mat salleh” silat practitioner. (Photo: Nigel Sutton)
“I was always the odd one out and it was a bit hard to communicate, really, because I never went to a national school so I can’t speak Malay. But it never really bothered me,” he said. “And my father was also adamant about me training with my teachers’ students because he didn’t want it to be like him, who looked obvious as an outsider.”
While his father was an established and well-known martial artist in Malaysia, he still had that reputation as “that mat salleh guy who teaches silat and tai chi”, said Sutton, referring to the Malaysian slang for “white man”.
“My dad will stick out like a sore thumb, but I’m fortunate enough that I don’t look completely white. But he also told me recently that the reason I can get along with others is because I grew up doing this; that I move like a Malay boy. It was never an issue for me trying to look like I know what I’m doing because I do know what I’m doing,” he said with a laugh.
Lian (right) with his martial artist parents Fong and Nigel, along with his first silat guru, Azlan Ghanie. (Photo: Nigel Sutton)
Indeed, when he was younger, Sutton would occasionally perform a silat tari (or silat dance) at Malay weddings. And whenever he’s back in Penang and the occasion calls for it, he readily performs. “I’ll be like, what weapons do you have that I can use, dad? Okay, I’ll take the axe,” he laughed.
For Sutton, being a persilat – or student of silat – means taking on the traditional art form’s culture and practices. “It’s not like I do a silat ritual every time I wake up, but if I’m in a silat class, I show the proper respect to my teacher; I don’t drink before I do a form or whatever. If I have a test, I don’t eat pork either. It’s about respecting the lineage, and taking on the roles expected of me — which is also like being an actor.”
In some ways, things have come full circle for Sutton, who is now on a mission to introduce the indigenous martial art to the world of theatre.
(Photos: Mayo Martin)
The LASALLE College of the Arts acting graduate had written a thesis about how silat could be used as an acting tool. “When I got to into drama school, I realised the things they were teaching was exactly the same as in martial arts – how to be present, your natural reflexes – the only difference was one is about going onstage and the other is going to war,” he quipped.
After graduating, he taught a couple of silat classes at his alma mater. More recently, he started bi-monthly acting-meets-silat classes under his collective Dark Matter Theatrics, with the next one held on Feb 19 at Centre 42.
“I think there’s a lot of value in it. It’s a beautiful art that’s unique to this region,” he said. “We should be using all the treasures that are here.”
