I Against I: An Offering To Deficit by Kiat

This exhibition marks the first solo presentation of Kiat, exploring the intersections between music and painting, and the ways in which they can perform as medium and material. Kiat’s forays into these disciplines started more than two decades ago, beginning with his formative training at the Lasalle College of the Arts and Swinburne University of Technology, and his subsequent practice in design and music production. The co-founder of Syndicate, a progressive audio-visual collective cum independent music label in Singapore, Kiat has performed in numerous live electronic music showcases as well as music festivals at home and abroad.

The title of the exhibition is drawn from a 2003 Massive Attack track, alluding to Kiat’s reflections on art and life as a constant process of negotiation between the thinking and the making of art, and between the self and the depths of consciousness.

I Against I highlights a new dimension in his creative practice in the domain of painting, where he reconsiders sound and vision through different materials and modes of expression. In parallel with how DJs sample elements of pre-existing music to create new pieces, Kiat’s paintings apply the “resampling” technique, at times combining analogue and digital sources as structural devices in his compositions. Raw samples of colour and texture typically serve as the creative impetus of his work, followed by a continual artistic recalibration and reworking of these elements as the work develops. Just as how sound is invisible but inherently exists, Kiat’s paintings seek to represent the unseen, coming into being on canvas.

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I Against I: An Offering To Deficit 

By Kiat 

17 - 25 February 2024

11am to 7pm

Art Outreach, 5 Lock Road, #01-06, Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108933

Free admission (no registration required)