Pei San Ng’s artworks blend the regularity of the mass produced unit with the elegance of the hand drawn line.
Her works are clean and precise.
“I like to design with modules. In the past I have created installations using dozens of identical Ikea lamps or Mason jars. These modules end up resembling pixels that form icons or symbols.”
The urban landscape has always been an inspiration for Miss Ng, both professionally and creatively. Theme and variation of modular skyscrapers and office buildings roll through the desert hills and smog of Los Angeles blending the natural with the man made.
Miss Ng’s most recent work uses the red tipped match as the module. “In Chinese culture red is a very lucky color, matches evoke danger. I think that by mixing those two messages the audience is forced to take a second or third look. I want to tempt the viewer to destroy my artwork.”
“When you look at these pieces you realize that – if you light the matches then you change the work, it becomes a performance, and the artwork is potentially destroyed, there is a tension there, you get a moment of satisfaction and then you have nothing – I like that tease” The artworks exist in an interesting place between object and experience – imagined experience or a remembered one.
If the best art makes the viewer ask new questions, then Miss Ng is breaking new ground. When was the last time that you asked someone “Can I light your art on fire?”