Ava and Ama are two ladies living in Balne, a fictional town inspired by the English town of Calne. Xinleh spent a formative year living and working in the UK; a period that still holds a particular tension for her. Charming, yet the experience is weighted by her first time living alone and by her awareness of how, as a Singaporean from a former British colony, she relates to Britain’s colonial history. She is interested in the questions of movement and transformation, in the shapeshifting nature of the immigrant experience, where the absurd lurks in the everyday. Through surrealistic devices she seeks to combine inconceivable ideas in unexpected ways– a symbol of establishing one’s unique identity in unfamiliar places.

Ava and Ama live at the edge of distortion, which reflects the artist’s personal experiences of the visible and unseen.

About the Artist

xinleh is an illustrator whose works capture the absurdity of childhood, exploring the intimacy of human relationships within fragmented realities. She is inspired by her cross-cultural background, born in Beijing, growing up in Singapore and living in Vancouver, British Columbia.

She works mainly in watercolour and markers, in small, intimate sizes that feel like a glimpse into another universe. She seeks to create multidimensional worlds that bring her characters together, while also highlighting their isolation, vulnerability and the strange beauty of everyday moments.

In her free time, she loves to write and play the piano. Her favourite game is Tetris.

Her artwork can be found in the private collections of Singapore, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Canada.

www.xinleh.com

IMA acknowledges the support of the Province of British Columbia for keeping our gallery free to attend.