This finely detailed work in colour pencil captures a “scene” from an antique shop in Georgetown, Penang. Each object is carefully rendered with particular attention to the subtle gradation of hues and the play of shadows, although some elements are more clearly defined and easy to identify than others. As in any antique shop, the variety of objects piques our curiosity and we find ourselves searching for “treasure” among the clutter.

Hia Pei Qin is most interested in the items which relate to Southeast Asian culture in this shop, most obviously a Sundanese wayang golek puppet figure of Sinta at the centre of the composition, and the elegant wood screen with traditional Malay carving at the right edge. Yet Sinta towers above characters from other stories – such as Guan Yu on horseback, laughing Buddha, a Chinese or Japanese fisherman casting his rod, a giant wooden squirrel and we wonder how their stories might cross. The wooden screen jostles against a large Chinese vase, the arabeques of its carved motifs echoed in the claws and scales of the dragon painted on its neighbour. In the background, an old Western styled clock and a stack of white porcelain plates, a modern abstract painting on an easel. From traditional puppets to kitsch objects to colonial period tableware, in a sense everything relates to regional history, as artifacts and debris of cultural exchange.