There is a fine line of feeling nothing and everything is a performative piece that confronts emotions and the body in a confined space. Growing up with a very opinionated family with high expectations, Murni began to feel suffocated and it had unfortunately affected her mental health. Trapped in 5 layers of plastic, each layer symbolising each member of the family, she had to break out of the space which was getting harder to escape by meandering her body around and tearing each bag one at a time. With frustration and suffocation from the lack of air and trapped heat, breaking through the last layer caused a final sense of relief.
I work with disintegrating memories and re-contextualizing them to create a new narrative. Mainly working with found materials like family photos, I analyse my own family stories as I am uncertain behind the truth or falsity from years of retelling these memories. I had doubts about these memories not being as intimate and emotional as it was creating holes within my own identity. As soon as these memories wither day by day, more details are being removed or added into the original, tainting the very nature of it all. By re-contextualizing memories, it gives me the power to author and rejoice the memories in my own way. Thus, reliving my own form of collective memory to reconcile the missing connection with my past both spiritually and emotionally.
Murni Khaliesah (b. 1997) is a Singaporean multi-disciplinary artist. Currently in her final year of her Bachelor’s Degree at LASALLE College of the Arts, Murni has also graduated from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 2018, with a Diploma in Fine Arts and majoring in photography. In her practice, Murni incorporates different techniques and uses found images and objects to address identity and create new narratives. From her own past relationships and experiences, she confronts and intervenes the barriers amongst different social stigmas of common topics that are labelled as taboo and analyses these issues to open new conversations.
