Fresh Face: Lith Ng Yee Leng
Sex as a necessity
A&M's Fresh Face is where we profile an emerging artist from the region every month and speak to them about how they kick-started their career, how they continue to sustain their practice and what drives them as artists.
Lith Ng Yee Leng.
Inspired to empower women and queer individuals in the free exploration of their sexualities, Lith Ng Yee Leng primarily works in sculpture and painting. The Malaysian artist challenges mainstream perceptions of sex by pushing dialogues to include topics such as female pleasure.
Lith graduated from Malaysia Institute of Art with a BA in Fine Arts in 2017. From 2013 to 2019, the artist has been actively participating in exhibitions including School of Thought(2017) a group exhibition at Segaris Art Centre, Maybank's Emerging Women Artists Show titled RRRAWRRR!!! (2018), and #ReimagineUs (2018) at Urbanscapes. While presenting her art at Urbanscapes, Lith’s work caught the attention of Sophia Shung, the executive director of Suma Orientalis. Shung offered Lith the opportunity to organise her first solo exhibition titled wet(issue) (2019) at the Kuala Lumpur-based gallery.
Close up view of wet(issue) (2019). Image courtesy of the artist.
In a series of resin sculptures, wet(issue) (2019) detaches sex from the body by recreating its microbial interactions. Lith’s visceral use of resin, red dye and pearls creates an unsterilised illustration of sex by depicting period blood, sperm and discharge. It destigmatises sex by removing the imagination of intercourse as a performance of gendered tropes, taboo sexuality or hedonism, and representing it as a biological necessity instead.
Lith Ng Yee Leng, In Defense of Pleasure (detail shot and installation view of work in Apotheca), 2019. Image courtesy of the artist and Suma Orientalis.
Beyond her artistic practice, Lith continues her sex-positive advocacy in other endeavours. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Malaysia has phased in and out of Movement Control Orders, which has created uncertainty in the arts industry. After losing her job last year Lith launched Erosu, an educational e-commerce site that sells adult toys in July 2020.
Interview
Could you talk about your background? And at what point in your life did you decide to pursue a career in art?
I graduated from Malaysia Institute of Art in 2017. To be frank, I think I have not established a "career" in art yet.
Could you share how you have maintained your practice after graduation? What are the important factors that have kept you going?
Since graduation, I think the main factor that has kept me going is my passion. I love creating things, seeing my thoughts come to life. Having people who appreciate them drives me to create more. It also helps to participate in group exhibitions, which keeps me active and motivated.
However, the pandemic completely changed things for me. I lost my job and my main source of income was completely cut off, which certainly affected my ability to create.
Close up view of In Defense of Pleasure (2019). Image courtesy of the artist.
How did the opportunity for your first solo show, wet(issue) (2019) at Suma Orientalis, Kuala Lumpur come about?
Sophia Shung, executive director of Suma Orientalis, saw my works from Urbanscapes back in 2018 and reached out to me.
What was the process like preparing for it?
I had nine months to prepare for the show and it took me four to five months to come up with something solid. The hardest part in my creative process is trying to conceptualise something and sticking to it.
How do you use biological imagery to confront gendered stigmas in human sexuality?
I believe using something people consider "taboo" to tackle subjects that are stigmatised is the easiest way to start a conversation. As a female artist, I use resin as my medium of choice in many of my sculptures because I love how I can create fluid-like visuals using resin. With the combination of red colouring, phallic shapes and pearls, I create bodily fluids like period blood, semen etc. But of course, these are just my personal interpretations since I like my works to be open for interpretation.
In Defence of Pleasure (2019) reflects on the woman's experience inspired by monologues from anonymous women and your own experiences growing up in a conservative Chinese household. What do you hope for viewers to take away from these narratives?
I hope viewers take away the message that that women and femme-presenting people should be able to have an open dialogue about sex and pleasure without feeling shame and guilt. Their pleasure should be equal to men’s.
Lith Ng Yee Leng, cum(atose) i, 2019, acrylic on canvas, 75.5x100cm. Image courtesy of the artist.
Who has been a mentor or an important artistic influence, and why?
I look up to French-American painter and printmaker Louise Bourgeois and strive to be as honest, raw, and influential as her.
What has been one important piece of advice given to you?
Being original is overrated.
Lith Ng Yee Leng, let me know when you are done with me, 2019, resin sculpture. Image courtesy of the artist.
Could you share your favourite art space or gallery in your country? Why are you drawn to that space and what does it offer to you and your practice?
Some of my favorite spaces are Ilham Gallery, Suma Orientalis, and A+ Works of Art. All three spaces consistently present unconventional and experimental art. I like that they are accepting of diversity in artists, and also the genres of works they carry.
What are your hopes for your own local art scene, and regionally as well?
With the pandemic still going on, it is hard to have any expectations for the art scene, locally or globally. I have seen local artists struggling to make ends meet, including myself, and there seems to be no improvement at all since the beginning of the pandemic. With that said, putting the pandemic aside, I do wish the local art scene could move on from its traditional and conservative ways of thinking. I hope that the Malaysian art scene becomes more progressive by accepting non-traditional mediums and not censoring new genres.
Lith Ng Yee Leng, Skin to skin, 2019, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.
Are there any upcoming exhibitions/projects that you would like to share more information on?
Nothing solid yet for art-related events, which is not surprising given how things still are in Malaysia. For a project unrelated to art, I have been working on Erosu, an online business selling adult toys and promoting sex education. I think it is important to talk about sex and pleasure, which are consistently present in my artworks, and my wish for sex education to be more accessible to the public has motivated the birth of Erosu.