Blending, reflecting, being.

“Skin to Nature” examines the relationship between the body and elements of nature, whether in function, shape, color, or even personality..? What do we mean when we say “natural” or “man-made”, when we are part of nature?

A collaboration between visual artist Carmen Cheah , mover SueKi Yee , and photo-/videographer Ryan Ooi , “Skin to Nature” took shape over 6 months as we experimented with different elements of nature and found new reflections in our process. Humans are part of nature, yet we have created a world for ourselves so removed and separated from nature that nature has become so foreign or distant to our bodies and our everyday life. How can we return to nature, how can our body become a “natural” part of nature again? Our research was inspired by the richness and availability of inspiration from nature, whether in visual design or in movements. We were searching for the parallelities between the functions, aesthetics, and essence between the human body/human skin and elements of nature. It was a journey of (re-)discovering ourselves in nature, and finding harmonies between our bodies and nature.

SueKi Yee is a Malaysian dance artist who choreographs, performs, and teaches, and is currently based in Germany. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance (First Class Hons, 2017) from Aswara (the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage, Malaysia), her major is in contemporary dance, while also being trained in ballet, and various traditional Malaysian dance forms such as Bharatanatyam, Terinai, Zapin, Silat, etc. She was a soloist in ASK Dance Company from 2016-2019. Following an ACL operation in 2019 and recovery, she started working as an independent artist.

Curious to explore the versatility of dance, she is interested in drawing from her multicultural background (dance, language, food), improvisation, site-specific work, and multidisciplinary experimentation and collaboration. In recent years, she’s also started experimenting beyond movement such as working with soundscapes, photo/videography, and text. She finds that working across disciplines widens her perception and allows for varied entry points into a work, hence expanding the possibilities of research, creation, and presentation.

Her works have been selected and presented in Malaysia, Mexico, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Brazil, and Ghana. Recent artistic residencies include PARALLEL Residency, Lernlabor Berlin (2021), and Perfocraze International Artist Residency in Ghana (2022). Her other experiences include working as a programmer and artist-facilitator in community engaged projects (ex: Arts Ed Penang), and community outreach programmes through dance education. She believes that dance can be for everyone, and shares this through her teaching.