About a Nyonya
About a Nyonya is a conceptual series of images centred around Kimberly Vanilla Tong, a Malaysian-born fashion designer of Peranakan heritage. She has been based in Los Angeles, California since 2009.
A close friend of mine for many years now, I have chosen to explore my usual questions with regards to one's identity with her
in an attempt to illustrate the complexities we negotiate with ourselves when considering our personal histories and how they define our physical and
subconscious existence through the course of a lifetime.
The images here are both an ode to contemporary Nyonya womyn, as well as an exploration of irony and contradiction with regards to self-identification in a structured world.
- commissioned for the DPAC Arts Festival 2014 as part of the exhibition Strait(s) Ahead as curated by Niki Cheong; featuring the works of kG Krishnan, Sarah Ameera and Nini Marini.