ARTIFACT to ABSTRACT
Khairi has always been fascinated in building things. Most of his artworks to date are centred around sculptural forms which often involves traditional history and philosophy.
In this presentation, Khairi is interested in aligning the antique forms of his rich heritage with a modern aesthetic.
The current works study and observe the running motifs of 19th century Malay and European decorative artefacts, which display surprising similarities for two such diverse traditions. Khairi has developed different forms, both aesthetic and functional, creating a visual tapestry of several pairs of worlds – Asia and Europe, old and new, techniques, processes, practices and philosophy that come together in artworks that combine ceramics, textile and metal.
Old Tradition, Present Idea
Yesterday’s Arifact, Today’s Art
Khairi was born in Singapore of a Malaysian and Indonesian heritage. In a family that always had to make ends meet, his art started as a child, building home-made toys and doodling to amuse himself.
Continuing this fascination at school, Khairi became involved not only in his visual art, but also in school and public theatre performance. In later years, torn between the visual and the performing arts, Khairi took up the latter as his pathway when La Salle College of the Arts introduced a Drama course, the first of its kind in Singapore.
Khairi performed, directed and work backstage from amateur to professional theatre and was sent to London on a student enhancement program working in Cameron MacKintosh’s productions of Cats and Miss Saigon.
Shortly before completing his Diploma in Drama course at La Salle, Khairi secured a place at the Queensland University of Technology in the Bachelor of Arts in Drama. Majoring in Educational Drama and Directing, Khairi performed, directed and designed for theatre productions both in Brisbane and Singapore until he was offered and gained his second degree, Master of Fine Arts, specialising in Theatre for Young People and Intercultural Arts.
Upon completing his MFA, Khairi moved to Melbourne to continue his long time interests. This led him back to the visual arts, seeking to integrate the two passions. At the Victorian College of the Arts/ University of Melbourne in the School of Studies in Creative Arts, Khairi realised that he did not have to leave his love of performing arts solely to visual arts but found a way of attaining his degree in Bachelor of Visual and Performing Arts, allowing the two areas to compliment one another.
Khairi managed, presented and performed in two group art exhibitions – Photography and Three Dimensional Art – with special focus on mixed media sculptural forms, including metal, ceramics and textiles. In the same period, Khairi won the Cultural Diversity Award from the University of Melbourne and was appointed as a Multicultural Arts Marketing Ambassador (MAMAS) at the Playbox Theatre Company funded by VicArts and jointly organized by Multicultural Arts Victoria and the VCA. Khairi has also appeared in feature films and various local television dramas.
From his educational base, Khairi went out to teach Indonesian Arts and Culture at the Centre of Environmental Research and Education Strategy and to tour with Sarjana Bumi Arts in Victoria and New South Wales, running similar workshops in schools as part of the Indonesian Program. A formal education degree at the University of Melbourne followed, then an appointment as Visual Arts teacher at Mount Scopus Memorial College.
All things in life come to a complete circle of alignment, and now Khairi is taking his equal passion for the visual and the performing arts into a single focus for this exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany, his first debut onto an international arts platform.
In Deutsch:
„ Ich war immer schon fasziniert von Skulpturen deren Formen traditionelle Geschichte und Philosophie zum Ausdruck bringen. In dieser Ausstellung möchte ich alte Formen in moderner Ästhetik zeigen.
Ausgehend vom Studium der gängigen Motive des 19. Jh. malayischer und europäischer Dekorationselemente, entwickle ich ein eigenes Bild der zwei Welten - Ost und West, einiges ist dekorativ, anderes funktional.Letztendlich nutze ich die alten und neuen Ideen, Techniken und Prozesse bei der Umsetzung in Keramik, Textilkunst und Metallarbeiten.“
Alte Traditionen, gegenwärtige IdeenBruchstücke von gestern, Kunst von heute .
Khairi Razaai Gallery
Gunungan
Brocade
Anyaman
Ceramic I
Ceramic II
Embroidery
©by roserasink 2008. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. All Rights Reserved.
