- Vivian Adram
- Jul 2
- 5 min read
Cat Town: Energy, Matter, and the Art of Becoming presents an immersive body of work by Lyne Ismail, where her dual roles as material scientist and abstract artist converge in a visual, experimental, and philosophical journey. The exhibition is an expansion of her book Musings of the Spring Water, launched concurrently with the show, and offers
a sensory and intellectual entry into the inner workings of energy, intuition, and becoming.
It is also informed by the poetic and allegorical world-building of Tales from the Cat Town, Lyne’s narrative cycle, included in the book. These stories frame the emotional and symbolic landscape of the exhibition, introducing four archetypes who embody psychological states, internal contradictions, and creative tensions:
At the heart of Cat Town are four recurring archetypes. The Boy is the subconscious seeker—curious, observant, led by instinct and wonder. The Girl is the quiet rebel—disrupting order through playful creativity and unexpected gestures. The Mayor represents the mind’s desire for logic and structure, but also its fragility when confronted with the unknown. And The Town is the living, breathing container of it all—a shifting mirror of the self, shaped by memory, feeling, and time.
These characters accompany the four bodies of work presented in the exhibition. The gestural Energy Series channels the Boy’s searching spirit—immediate, experimental, intuitive. The vibrant and precise Colour Series aligns with the Girl’s vibrant defiance and expressive order, turning colour into a form of rebellion and joy. The titular painting Cat Town serves as a visual field where all these forces meet: a dreamscape of transition, fragmentation, and recomposition—The Town in flux. Finally, The Voice of Water, Lyne’s live cymatic installation, echoes the Mayor’s structured worldview, yet reveals its vulnerability—sound structured into water, form arising from logic, control giving way to resonance.
The exhibition is an expansion of her book Musings of the Spring Water, which will be launched concurrently with the show, and offers a sensory and intellectual entry into the inner workings of energy, intuition, and becoming.
Do join us for the Opening, and/or at the other programs we have lined up!
(details below)
In conversation with Lyne Ismail
In Conversation with Lyne Ismail, invites you to an intimate sharing session with the artist, where Lynne reflects on her dual practice as a material scientist and abstract artist. Through personal stories and insights, Lyne explores the processes, philosophies, and energies that shape her work and the art of becoming. Moderated by Sharmin Parameswaran.
Saturday, July 5th
3:00pm
Opening Reception & Book Launch temu house welcomes you to Cat Town: Energy, Matter, and the Art of Becoming, a visual art exhibition showcasing an immersive body of work by Lyne Ismail, where her dual roles as material scientist and abstract artist converge in a visual, experimental, and philosophical journey.
Sunday, July 6th
4:00pm
Book Reading & Reflection
An entry point into Musings of the Spring Water, as Lyne Ismail reads from her newly launched book and shares personal reflections on the thoughts, intuitions, and inner movements that shape her writing and artistic practice.
Sunday, July 13th
3:00pm
RSVP here: https://forms.gle/QPHYWgsiihrCLZDh8
Exhibition runs 5th - 27th July Saturday - Sunday 10:00am - 5:00pm No registration needed No entrance fee
“A spring overflowing its spring box. A freshness in the centre of the chest.”
- Rumi, The Two Kinds of Intelligence
About Lyne Ismail
Lyne Ismail is a visual artist, material scientist, and academic whose work moves between abstraction, sensory experience, and philosophical inquiry. She holds a PhD in Engineering (Nanotechnology), a Master’s in Fine Art and Technology, and a degree in Chemistry from UMIST, UK. Trained in science but drawn to the unspoken, Lyne’s art explores energy, transformation, and the intelligence of intuition—often through painting, sound, and experimental installation.
Her practice draws equally from empirical process and embodied knowing, weaving chemical interactions, gesture, and narrative into a visual language of becoming. In 2020, she was artist-in-residence at the Slade School of Fine Art, London where she expanded her exploration of process-based abstraction. Though she began her career in the sciences, Lyne was eventually offered a permanent academic position not in engineering, but in the arts—where her interdisciplinary ethos continues to shape her teaching, writing, and creative research.
Her debut book Musings of the Spring Water (2025), launched alongside her solo exhibition Cat Town: Energy, Matter, and the Art of Becoming, documents the convergence of her scientific and artistic journeys, offering meditations on matter, presence, and the practice of seeing beyond the visible.
Past Exhibitions
Post Card Collaborative Exhibition – October 14, 2024 Piyadasa Gallery, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Surfers of Time, Malang Indonesia – August 2, 2024 Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia.
Something Else at the Citadel, Cairo – December 24, 2023The Citadel, Cairo, Egypt.
Bugsland: Pre-Screening – November 11, 2023 Faculty of Creative Arts, Universiti Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Pemulihan, Pembaharuan – November 15, 2021 White Box @ Publika, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
SEGARIS 10th ANNIVERSARY SHOW – October 4, 2021White Box @ Publika, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Dunia Akhirat, Cult Gallery – August 23, 2021 CULT Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
SISArt 2020: FREE / BEBAS – October 3, 2020 CULT Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Traversing 175, NSTP 175th Anniversary – October 2, 2020 Galeri Prima, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
WRWT SHOW: Segaris Art Center – March 13, 2020 Segaris Art Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
[O]Pening – July 27, 2019 Fergana Publika, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
RRRAWRRR!!! Maybank’s Emerging Women Artists Show – March 8, 2019 Balai Seni Menara Maybank, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
PURE Painting: An Exposition of Non Figurative Art – November 22, 2018 Balai Seni Menara Maybank, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Self Absorbed – August 18, 2018 Titikmerah Artrow Publika, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Imagination In The Sphere Of Mere Physical Existence – August 15, 2018 Piyadasa Gallery, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
21 Pameran Seni Universiti – May 16, 2018 Galeri ASWARA, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Bintang 5 Vol.2 – January 18, 2018 Segaris Art Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Divine Geometry – January 15, 2018 Institute of Microengineering and Nanoelectronics (IMEN) Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Opposite Abstract – December 20, 2017 Universiti Malaya Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Futurist’s Diaries – September 23, 2017 Auditorium DBKL, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The White Mask – August 15, 2017 White Box @ Publika, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
‘Object’-tive TEXT – August 1, 2017 Galeri Serdang, Malaysia.
IP KREATIF Art Exhibition – July 22, 2017 Mall of Medini, Iskandar Puteri, Johor, Malaysia.
AQAL II – January 14, 2017 Segaris Art Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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