ESSAY 2 : Anis Rozalina Ramli

COMMENTS ON ZAINAL ABIDIN MUSA’S TENGKUJUH PAINTINGS

Mention the word Tengkujuh and visions of extended rains, flooding and displaced villages come to mind. But Zainal Abidin Musa sees something else in the seasonal rains that pour down on the east coast of Malaysia at each year-end.

His paintings in the “Tengkujuh” exhibition show none of the dreary pictures the media serves up to us: families living in wet, pitiful conditions; roads blocked by depths of water; cars submerged in rising levels of waters. Instead, the scenes come across as romantic and ethereal, a likely reflection of his many fond memories growing up and schooling on the east coast during his important formative years as a young man and a fine art student.

The “Tengkujuh—Jambatan Sultan Mahmud, Kuala Terengganu” painting, for example, presents viewers with a romantic vision of the wet spell through dabs of colour and  feather-like strokes that make this ordinary scene take on an almost dream-like and magical atmosphere.

The indistinct shapes and forms present in the scene and the layering of light against dark dabs of colours give a misty, almost winter-like effect. This gauzy effect is evocative of viewing the scene through a curtain of rain. Meanwhile, the ocher strokes give a dappled effect to the landscape, contrasting with the darkness of the day. Viewing the painting reveals real feelings of coolness, dampness and freshness in the air.

The composition of the painting, with a man on motorbike on the left and a van on the right, is balanced somewhat with a mountain rising up off-centre of the canvas. The placements of these different objects on the canvas engages the viewer as part of the painting, as though we, too, are driving down the middle of this puddly bridge, safe and dry in the comforts of our car, making our way towards the end-point, as suggested by the horizontal lines that almost meet in the centre. 

The dream-like quality of this piece, achieved through feathery strokes, use of soft and cool colours, and lines which guide the eye pleasingly over the painting, gives off a certain cozy feeling associated with being indoors on a cold, rainy day.

Viewing his paintings in the Tengkujuh series leads one to believe that perhaps not everything is in black and white, not everything is good or bad, or that one thing exludes all other possibilities. 

Though not many will agree with Zainal’s take on the monsoon, for the monsoon does in reality take its toll on the economic and social vulnerabilities of east coast dwellers, Zainal’s painting makes us want to consider for a moment that every cloud – even a monsoon cloud – does have a silver lining.