STIRWORLD | Exploring intermediality in the creative practice of artist Sarah Choo Jing

Singaporean artist, Sarah Choo Jing, works at the intersection of photography, film and installations, playing with the fluidity of medium, and re-approaching her creative practice in new and unique ways. Jing is a staunch believer of Marshall McLuhan’s idea that “the medium is the message”, and considers first the medium or the method to best convey the intentions behind each work as central to the process. Taking into consideration not only the context of the work but also the physical resources available, all these aspects guide along the decisions made towards mediality. “I was first trained as a painter before I moved towards exploring photography as a medium. My oil paintings are photo-realistic in nature, characterised by the dramatic and are intentionally heavy handed with the lighting,” explains the artist, “I suppose I began to see a relationship between photography and painting as I was often painting from photographs themselves. As I began looking at photography and what it could represent, my experience as a painter spilled into the digital images that I began to make. Hence, the painterly aesthetic present in my body of works – including video installations such as Art of the Rehearsal”.