Yeo Workshop is pleased to announce The Seas Are All Shared by Ng Joon Kiat, the artist’s first solo booth presentation with the gallery at Asia Now in Paris. Ng has long pursued a conceptual yet materially rooted practice, drawing from research of archives spanning geography, microscopic science, history, cartography, surgical history, and city planning since the late 1990s. These fields were the lenses through which he shaped his approach to contemporary painting, helping him to continually rethink the relevance of the medium. His work was grounded in the socioeconomic and political nuances of borders from a perspective situated in Asia. Over time, he has sought to challenge the limits of fixed identity constructs such as nationality, reframing the role of the painter as an investigator and active participant in a changing world.

In this solo presentation, Ng navigates the complexities of artistic identity in a globalized world, questioning the insidious controls imposed on art when it is constrained by national boundaries. Reflecting on travel as both a physical and mental journey, he engages with broader, more fluid concepts of identity that are defined by the journey itself rather than tied to a single place.

In defiance of human-imposed borders, Ng draws inspiration from the forces of nature that do as they please. Looking at the South China Sea 2 captures this sentiment. Painted on-site, the paper works capture the adventure and unpredictability of nature, tinged with the smell of sea salt and the visceral experience of being in the environment. Whether trapped in remote locations or battling sandflies on the beach, Ng’s painting revels in the borderless currents of nature that can neither be controlled nor claimed by anyone.

Finally, in The Seas Are All Shared, Ng reflects on his global perspective in work painted across Europe in 2024. Deeply aware that environmental and political crises transcend national borders, Ng searched for the interconnectedness of human experiences as he traveled from busy transit hubs to quiet towns. In these moments, painful experiences of discrimination dissolved into a shared artistic connection, reminding us that no matter the differences, the seas—and, by extension, the world—are indeed shared by all.