Genevieve Chua’s Early Arrivals plays with and embraces the idea of contradiction. Challenging traditional notions of paintings and the process of making them, the artist aims to push the boundaries of ‘the familiar’ and ‘the known’. This artwork was a part of a brilliant show at STPI titled ‘grrrraaanularrrrrrr’. Linguistically, the title of the exhibition explores and engages with intentional errors and the clash of resistance—such as the clash between the sound and meaning of the word ‘granular’, enhanced by the addition of extra rolling r’s. Similarly, the medium and technique used in Early Arrivals evoke intrigue. The silkscreen work uses cement-coated paper onto which geometric shapes are screen printed and coated with UV gloss—another beautiful meeting of a glistening, free-flowing element with a granular and rough one. Genevieve keeps bringing up the opposites, haptically and visually. 

Ultimately the portrayal of the various geometric shapes falling onto one another lands the nail on the head for the theme evoked: understanding contextual multitudes. The artist wants the viewer to engage with multiple interlinked narratives, seemingly separate, by showcasing multiple planes in one work. She introduces a new way of seeing by freezing a moment, albeit arbitrary, in time. The structure of the geometric shapes conveys playfulness and a chance timeline. Similarly the title of the work—Early Arrivals—takes one step back and questions what it means for an arrival to be early. The artist wants us to surrender to the randomness of nature.