Sweet Time

Singaporean artist Weng presents a compendium of bittersweet stories that juxtapose the vagaries and pains of romantic relationships through her gorgeous, painterly drawings, creating a melancholic yet strangely enchanted mood. Several pieces feature protagonists in what seem like placid states, but slowly their buried feelings stir. In “Birds,” a couple visits a house whose owner collects wild birds, and as they peer through the gates at the lovely flora and fauna, they begin to argue. Though hurt by the exchange, the woman backs down, keeping her worst thoughts to herself (“We are not a good idea”). In “Pairs” and “The Boat,” couples ruminate and fight suicidal thoughts but attempt to reach out to one another. In the title story, a brokenhearted woman pours her heart out to a man in a bar before they go home together. Weng ends that arc with an erotic scene, the two looking deeply into each other’s eyes, begging the question as to whether a future together is possible. On a lighter note, Weng includes travel diaries where she jots down quotidian moments on trips to Argentina and other countries. Weng's rendering of sorrow leavened with hope results in a poetic, unified collection. [em](June) [/em]