Reflections

Biographical Notes - July 2004

By Sharmiza Abu Hassan

I was born in the small historical town of Taiping, once the capital city of Malaya, on the 22nd of November 1972. Taiping is particularly nostalgic to me as this is where I was brought up by my grandparents, living and growing up with my teenaged uncles and aunts until I was six years old.

My childhood days in my old hometown are still vivid in my mind and have been such great source of inspiration to me. They fill me with sweet memories especially since I had everybody around me at that time and all the thoughts that have brought me to be what I am today.

In my childhood days, I remember we lived near the railway station. We would hear the train everyday and there were times that the sound of the train signaled that it was time to go to sleep, time to be in the house or time to stop playing outside.My grandfather was very artistic, energetic and had a humble personality. He was a railway worker until he changed his job to a hospital attendant when his 8th child, my youngest uncle, was born. He did a lot of Islamic calligraphic decorations and carvings that most Muslims display in their houses. Sometimes, he would also make his own tools like knives, chisels, axes and carving tools. He built a large wooden house for us to live in before he passed away. I was five years old when he passed away and after that, I returned to live with my parents. I think I drew my artistic talent from him and consider myself very fortunate to have inherited his artistic disposition.

My grandmother used to take me everywhere. She was a traditional midwife and I sometimes helped her to search for herbs. Her medications were made of plants, dried fruits, roots, seeds and even stones that we got either from the market or from the nearby bushes. In Malay tradition, people believed in magic and talismans, they used incantations to cure illnesses but my grandmother used invocations and Quranic verses to perform her healing. There were a few special utensils including bowls and knives that my grandmother employed and were inscribed by my grandfather with divine words of God, sacred verses and symbols. Some of them, like the jars, nutcrackers and the Kris, were inherited by my grandmother from her grandparents. All these tools were kept in a special container and are still in good condition today.


Recollecting on my childhood experience has made me believe that I have been exposed to the process of becoming an artist since I was young. I still practice the old charms, tips and abstentions learned from my grandmother, although we are living in the scientific and technological advancements of today. I feel that it is unique and nostalgic although it may sometimes be deemed as supernatural. I was also fascinated by the old traditional utensils that she used because for me those materials and objects represented a feeling of survival, spiritual heritage and beliefs. That is why I love making my art with physical objects as it reminds me of my childhood days and provides me with more space and opportunities to enhance the whole creative process experienced.

Nostalgia, childhood memories and personal experiences are the themes that I have developed through my artworks since 1995. Constructing the forms and images of these themes using patinated copper, found objects and assemblage has been my favourite style of working.