Born in 1962 in Singapore, Salleh bin Japar is a conceptual multi-disciplinary artist whose work addresses concerns of identity and society, Muslim values, and globalisation. Salleh came to prominence with the seminal 1988 collaborative exhibition ‘Trimurti’, and in 2001 was a Singapore Pavilion representative at the 49th Venice Biennale.This large work was also a part of the groundbreaking exhibition ‘Trimuti’. Salleh derived the central image of ‘Fitrah/Human Nature’ from the pall cloth used to cover the Muslim coffin. As with the ‘Becoming I to IV’ works, the spiral motif is dominant, swirling with cosmic energy. Of this work Salleh has said it alludes to life being an act of ascension, of passing through the stations (‘chakras’) as one attains a higher level of consciousness and affirmation. During this procession, through time and space, man must reckon with change resulting from the conflict between the inner and outer forces.
