From the creator of the viral body painting photographs protesting cultural body policing in Kuala Lumpur,
This Body is Mine

A Collage Art Journal Web-Exhibition,
Butterflying The Highway
by Rupa Subramaniam

எப்படி அக்கா? நீங்க அசிங்கமான விஷயத்த கூட அழகா இருக்குன்னு சொல்றீங்க?

When my 15-year-old art student asked me “how do you see beauty in ugliness?”, I felt like I had I received the finest compliment as an artist. All the awards I’ve won didn't compare. As time passed, it became harder for me to find and see beauty. When I started realizing it, it was a little too late.

Now, I’m haunted by the inability to see beauty, even in the most mesmerizing of sights.

The world’s vibrant colours, once a source of inspiration, now feels like disconnected reality. Beautiful, but empty, spectacles. Once, I could find beauty in the mundane, the hideous. Now, even the most breathtaking scenes do not impress me.

I'm afraid of what will happen from now on.

I'm afraid of how I will move forward as an artist.

I’m afraid of asking myself,
what happens when an artist can no longer see beauty?

Visual Artist Rupa Subramaniam Advocates Indian Culture & Tradition In Malaysia

This interview was first published in Bernama Evening News Channel 502 on Dec 20, 2024.

Exhibition Reviews

  • Unlike many academic resources that can feel sterile and overly clinical, Butterflying The Highway invites visitors into a relatable space bridging the gap between art therapy theories and practical applications. Supporting the idea that art can help individuals articulate feelings that might otherwise remain unexpressed, this inclusive artistic vision is particularly profound for those from marginalized backgrounds.

    Dr. Sylvester J. Lim PsyD., CHt., NCAPS, MCMA
    Psychologist

  • It feels like we've come to expect constant advocacy and outspokenness from our artists of underrepresented backgrounds. And I can't help thinking, how tiring this must be; what a relentless burden to bear with your work. Which is why experiencing Rupa Subramaniam's Butterflying The Highway felt so freeing. The collages and text feel raw, incomplete, tentative and unabashedly personal. I love that the art feels like the claiming of a space, a way to reveal the person behind the artist. I also love that it does away with what art "should be" and instead makes a case for finding art in the everyday. And most of all, it feels like someone setting a weight down, at least for a few moments, as they seek to rest, stay still and heal. We could all learn a bit of that, I think.

    Sharmilla Ganesan,
    Art Critic

  • There are sketches, collages, thoughts and questions, some whimsical, some serious, held together by personal, and sometimes painfully honest narratives – like a garland of jasmine buds - at once an offering and a tribute, to a journey from girl to woman, from hesitance to confidence, and from seeking to finding; to losing, and re-finding. It is also a reminder that the true value of a piece of art is not in how much it will sell for, but how many hearts it will touch, provoke, inspire, or even disturb.

    Allie Li Sin Hil,
    Designer

  • It's a conscious choice to make art that requires slowness and patience to look at, especially in a setting where people spend 1.5 seconds looking at posts before moving on.

    Charis Loke,
    Illustrator

  • Mesmerizing. Personal yet universal and inclusive-lah! I love it.

    Uthaya Sankar SB,
    Writer

  • This work instigated within me deep existential questions related to attempting to describe what art is, what truth is, and who gets to define it. Do I see things as they are, or do I only see things in relation to my lenses of the world through what I was taught about life, society and my own experiences?

    Krish Vells,
    Psychotherapist (UK)

Would you like to submit a review?

While the global average time spent on a website is 54 seconds, Butterflying The Highway is now benchmarking at 7 minutes 12 seconds with more than 200 visits since its launch in December 2024!

By submitting a review, you will help others form a perimeter for a varied interpretation and encourage a more critical perspective to look at art.