Lucy Liu & Shubigi Rao, who had never met in person before, developed into “visual penfriends” through an exploration of their respective works.

The discourse unveiled similar themes in their practices. Incidental or not, Liu and Rao share an interest in examining and dissecting cultures, histories, identities and relationships through their works. Both are also drawn to the repurposing of found objects in their art, in which these objet trouvés become narrators to their creations and conduits to their expressions.

The virtual dialogue between the two is presented for the first time at the National Museum of Singapore. In Unhomed Belongings, the artworks by both Liu and Rao are in fluid conversation. Liu’s installation Lost and Found echoes Rao’s Pulp (Volumes 1 and 2), where both invite viewers to examine found objects that may seem ordinary at first glance but possess peculiar character when observed up-close. Through their delicate yet deliberate craftwork, Liu and Rao transform the ordinary into the conceptual, and the salvaged into the sublime.