Conceptual artist Liew Kung Yu offers his interpretation of what the future Malaysia could look like in the stunning exhibition, Cadangan-Cadangan Untuk Negaraku

Artists derive inspiration from any number of sources. For conceptual artist Liew Kung Yu, he says his works are created as either a reaction or response towards what he sees around him.

“I don’t set my agenda, ‘Oh, this year I’m going to do environmental or children’s issues’,” he says. “I create works in response to my surroundings and what’s happening in my country. That has always been a thread in my work. I always create works that are dialogues about local issues.”

In his new exhibition, Cadangan-Cadangan Untuk Negaraku, currently on display at Galeri Petronas, Liew presents four exaggerated, large-scale montage works that are his response to the concrete objects that have become synonymous with the Malaysian urban identity. Liew brings to the forefront objects that we are all familiar with — lampposts, sculptures and monuments — and ponders their significance, or the lack of it.

Liew tackles this issue in his intriguingly surreal artworks, while also presenting “proposals” of what Malaysia could look like in the future. He says, “These are four possible landscapes of what the country might turn into, suggestions of what we might be looking at in the future. I’m giving you a choice — if you like what you see now, then fine. If not, then think about it.”

He chose photography as his medium for these works because he wanted a sense of realism. “I wanted it almost like a documentation. When you look at the images, you know these are real things that surround us, even though I distort and manipulate them in Photoshop,” he says.

The works are made up of layers of thousands of colourful images, and has a 3D, pop-out effect. Each artwork is truly a treasure trove of discoveries — the sheer amount of detail found in them is nothing short of incredible and awe-inspiring, and some are so minute that you notice them only if your face is inches away from the glass. Viewing the works is like looking at pages from the popular Where’s Wally children’s books, except that they’re magnified 100 times over. Aesthetically, they may be somewhat kitschy, but they are nonetheless beautiful in their own unique way.

With this body of work, Liew says he wanted to break away from the traditional form of presenting photography. “In cutting and collaging the images, I am intentionally confronting the common practice of creating photography. I am trying to push the boundaries with these works, giving an example of creating this art form using photography as a medium.”

Liew scoured the country — even as far as Sandakan, Sabah — in search of sculptures, lampposts, monuments and buildings to photograph. One of the things he discovered about Malaysians is our love for columns as a decorative feature. This ancient architectural entity sees many different — sometimes downright gaudy — interpretations, and they have become so much a part of our architectural identity that most of us don’t blink twice when we see them in a home or commercial building.

Liew pays homage to these columns in a work titled Bandar Sri Tiang Kolom. He points out that Malaysians’ passion for columns cuts through all races and income groups — you can find distinctive Romanesque columns in low-cost housing, expensive bungalows in gated communities, kampung houses and commercial buildings like Segi College, and hotels in Melaka and Langkawi.

“Maybe it brings about a certain kind of status,” surmises Liew. “Looking at low-cost housing, their houses are so narrow but they have columns from the ground floor all the way up to the top. Aesthetically, it’s a bit problematic but maybe they make the value of the house go higher. In a way, (these works are) a research or survey for myself in trying to understand what are the reasons behind all these things.”

In Pantai Gelora Cahaya, Liew looks at another national fascination: oversized, concrete nature sculptures. Interspersed among these sculptures in the artwork are lampposts in a variety of designs. The work has a touristy bent to it and a decidedly Las Vegas feel.

This work raises the question of how much thought actually goes into some of the public sculptures we see erected all over the country, such as the large hibiscus found on Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur. “It is done by DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) to represent our national flower, to symbolise our identity. However, it is not accurate — the stamen is not made right. How did this happen? What kind of a procedure did the government go through to make this? Was there an adviser? With public sculptures, there needs to be a bit more concern on whether we got it right,” says Liew. Can’t disagree with him there.

The next work, Metropolis Warisan, is the least complicated one of the lot and easiest on the eyes. With structures like the Petronas Twin Towers, the KL Tower, Masjid Wilayah and intersecting overhead highways, this beautiful, ethnic-looking piece is a tribute to the city of Kuala Lumpur. Liew says the starting point for this work is the tengkolok-inspired Malaysian National Library, where the distinctive motif on the building has been transplanted onto the whole landscape.

My favourite is Konkrit Jungle, which expounds on yet another Malaysian staple: animals made out of concrete found in parks, zoos and roundabouts all over Malaysia. The artwork is a clever play on words — concrete animals are depicted as places where people can live in.

Liew’s artworks are pieces that truly stretch the imagination, opening up a world of possibilities, not just on what Malaysia could look like in the years to come, but also what photographic works can be. You will be inspired and enthralled, as I was.

The exhibition Cadangan-Cadangan Untuk Negaraku is on display until June 14 at Galeri Petronas, Level 3, Suria KLCC. Gallery hours are 10am to 8pm Tuesday to Sunday. Admission is free. For more information, call (03) 2051 7770.

This article appeared in Options, the lifestyle pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 754, May 11 - 17, 2009.