Calling her work “Dog Days,” she expertly draws the parallel between the black dog and societal perceptions of mental health.
Ping, 29, said she first heard of the metaphor of black dogs being equated to depression when she was studying in Melbourne.
“Since then, the idea has always been at the back of my mind because these are two concepts at the opposite ends of the spectrum. My pet gives me so much joy, but there’s that connection to depression,” she told FMT Lifestyle.
Leaving her job in accounting and finance, she began studying fine art in 2020. And it was during the pandemic that she sketched her first black dog. “We had live drawing classes, and the only model I had at home was my own dog,” she said.
Her current exhibition, featuring over 10 artworks, took her a year to complete, with her most intricate sculptures taking around three months. “A lot of it was inspired by the antics that my own dog gets up to.”
One standout piece, “One Among Many”, explores the feeling of loneliness in a crowd. Ping shared that the idea came to her when she spotted a dog on the streets with its head stuck in a plastic container.
“I was struck by the uncomfortable parallel between what it must have felt to be in its place and the experience of being lost inside your head—of darkness and acute discomfort, of feeling alone even while surrounded by loved ones,” Ping expressed.
Another notable sculpture, “Concerned First Party,” features a dog looking into a mirror. “Sometimes my dog recognises herself in the mirror, sometimes she does not. This reminds me of those strange instances when I glance up and am taken aback by the stranger that I see reflected in the mirror,” she said.
“Self-Doubt”, meanwhile, features a small black dog surrounded by his toys. This artwork centres on a question Ping couldn’t get off her mind: “Why does the idea of taking medication for mental disorders threaten to spark an existential crisis?” she asked.
“The reason why the toys are in that colour is because it mimics the green Prozac pill, the mood-stabilising pill. I’ve always found it interesting how, when people wear contact lenses or take medicine for blood pressure, it’s never really talked about as an issue,” she said, adding that taking medication for mental disorders, however, raised eyebrows.
“And it also raises the interesting question of, which is the real self? Before or after I took the pills?”
In “Needs Must,” a painting consisting of 27 individual oil-on-paper drawings that, when assembled together, spell out the word “MINE,” Ping said it was about taking ownership of one’s every action, even those deemed embarrassing such as taking a dump.
“The stigma about mental health makes it such that an individual feels that the time spent unwell was time that they didn’t deserve to exist. So, I wanted to challenge that to say, even those moments which are maybe embarrassing or which you don’t want to remember, they are worth holding on to.”
And what is her personal take-home message to those viewing her work?
“Depression has no single manifestation. And when you think of dogs, you think of different shapes and sizes, different breeds. I’ve gained more appreciation for the fact that there’s actually a lot of layers to not just the black dog, but to everything in life.”
Dog Days: A solo exhibition by Ping
Date: August 2–20
Venue: HARTA, Level 1, Lot 93-95 Lorong Memanda 2, 68000 Ampang, Selangor
Time: 10am–5pm; Tuesday–Sunday (Admission is free)