《Pawang》　95 cm x 20 cm x 20 cm　 Carved wood construction　1990

Born:        1961

Education:　1982 -        University Technology MARA(U1TM), Shah Alam

　　　　　 1999 -       De Montfort University, Leicester

　　The interest in evoking tribal art influences has obviously not abated as is reflected in this sculpture produced by the younger generation sculptor Tengku Sabri in 1990. Not all attempts to return to tribal art influences of the past are necessarily filled with a seriousness of purpose though. This wood carving was made by the artist when he was a final year student at the ITM School of Art and Design. The artist has since moved on to multi- dimensional installations but this earlier work is notable for the inherent wit and humour that characterises it. The Malay word pawang means a powerful witch doctor or a know-all medicine man. The big, long, exaggerated beak-like nose, the small, rounded head studded with portruding eyes and hair, the thin arms, the straight spine of the creature, all reflect a tongue-in-cheek statement about a proud, haughty bird-like entity that is staring out at the world. The image veers towards caricature.

　　This image has obviously emerged from the artist’s witty imagination rather than from any real culture-bound contexts or any particularised mythology. There are qualities about the work that makes it interesting as a piece of sculpture. The work is actually an “assemblage” of different, randomly “found” wooden forms that have been put together by the artist with the barest modifications, to form the vertical standing entity. The straight rhythmic spine of the form is possibly the only meticulously carved element and it immediately recalls Brancusi’s endless column. The clever connection of the lower, rounded pedestal-like form to the spine and arms to form an integral “whole” may also be read as a witty commentary about the pedestal-oriented concerns of the earlier modernist sculptors.