The Foil series exemplifies Masuri’s embrace of working with different formal and emotive registers. The sculptural series formed part of his recent solo exhibition titled Softstrong at Coda Culture. Hanging both vertically and horizontally with each more than one metre long, the works are adorned on the surface with atomised metallic bronze, silver, and gold hues. Reminiscent of foil-wrapped chocolates, the work is built on a base of industrial materials. Grounded in the idea of the ephemeral nature of memory, and of a utopia just out of reach, Masuri’s recent practice pulls facets of his early life into the spotlight. The Foil series is rooted in Masuri’s childhood memories of accompanying his late grandmother to work. These experiences presented Masuri with an awareness of everyday materials and their serendipitous relationships, which vary from the new to the discarded. Eventually, Masuri developed an intense fascination with the way these objects were constructed.

“I tried to understand how these objects were made, it spurred me to create and make my own toys. Particularly, the process of transforming these materials into objects of play was freeing and exciting. As a little reward by my grandmother, I would be given one of those brand-less chocolate biscuit sticks wrapped in colourful foil. These visual and tactile experiences have stuck with me over the years,” Masuri explains. 

The Foil series assumed a fresh resonance for Masuri after the death of his grandmother in 2018. In its delicate weaving of personal memories and his longstanding practice of material manipulation, the works transform into sculptural paintings with their own footing. Central to the series is his conscious decision to conceal the laborious imbrication of different materials. Masuri states that:

“When I am working on a particular work, the arduous performative techniques are totally omitted from the visual representation of the work. I feel that each layer evokes the palimpsest quality of time, and how things eventually manifested on the surface.”

He further adds,

“There is also an idea of the pervasiveness of memory, and how it builds upon a base. The repetitive actions are quietly therapeutic yet labour-intensive.”

The transcendence of the works from everyday objects tied to distinct personal memories into objects of their own, suggests the ever-evolving nature of memory. 

Text by Elaine Marie Thanya Teo