(b. 1993, Johor Bahru, Malaysia)
Known for their formal qualities, Kayleigh Goh’s compositions are highly inspired by the psychological and poetic implications of place – gently moving the viewer to contemplate ideas of home and rest.
Predominantly using wood and cement, materials often associated with buildings and physical space, Kayleigh has developed an artistic practice and technique that conscientiously yet intuitively balances the juxtaposition between the warmth of the exposed natural wood and coldness of the industrial cement to achieve a dissonant yet comfortable sense of harmony.
Exploring themes of memory, solitude, and spatial experience, her works are paradoxically calm, soft, and gentle. Inviting introspection and contemplation, Kayleigh offers viewers access to a metaphysical ‘space’, a temporary escape from the complexities and incongruities of today’s fast-paced lives, and encourages viewers to pause, reflect, and engage with the nuances of stillness and structure.
“The element of space in my work is a vessel to communicate a certain set of moods, feelings and experiences … to retame, to reorganise, and to rebalance the emotions that run loose.”
— Shaping Geographies : Art | Woman | Southeast Asia (Gajah Gallery, 2019)
Dr. Michelle Antoinette | Dr. Wulan Dirgantoro
Drafting Window
2025
Acrylic, Cement, Graphite and Gesso on Wood
25 x 30 cm
Carefully delineated graphite lines, making up grids, accompany the structured surface of Drafting Window – adding an element of understated detail and visual interest to the piece.
Roofline
2025
Acrylic, Cement, Graphite and Gesso on Wood
150 x 120 cm
In Roofline, there seems to be a view from an interior space of the exteriors of some structures, or homes. The carefully delineated edges and forms of these architectural elements, however, seem to be on the same plane as the rest of the composition as there seems to just be a miniscule hint at depth and perception.
Here, Kayleigh Goh has – in effect – melded the indoors and outdoors together in this scene and created a disorientating sense of space..
Micro-landscapes of Bones I
2020
Eggshells, Cement, Gesso on Wood
30 x 25 cm, Framed: 34 x 29 x 3.5 cm
An interplay between the technical use of perspective, texture, and layering of opacities is at focus in Micro-landscapes of Bones I. Kayleigh’s command over these formal qualities has created a trompe-l’œil effect that draws viewers into an illusionary space, as the painting appears to be depicting an illusion of space with immense depth.
To Tame Terracotta Red
2024
Cement, Acrylic, and Gesso on Wood
120 x 120 cm, Framed: 124 x 124 x 4 cm
In To Tame Terracotta Red, gesso is applied onto the raw wooden board and transforms it into a new gentle shade of white. With this exploration, the gesso enhances the wood texture without entirely concealing it – instilling it even more depth with painterly layers and creating a new allure to her paintings that pulls you deeper into the piece.
With this exploration, Kayleigh Goh continues to employ the element of space as an artistic language; but this time, the white-ness of the gesso invokes an impression of light and air.
A Quiet Carnival of Terracottas
2024
Cement, Acrylic, and Gesso on Wood
120 x 140 cm, Framed: 125 x 144 x 4 cm
Kayleigh Goh introduces a hue of terracotta into the cement she uses in A Quiet Carnival of Terracottas. This slightly alters the mood of the spaces she is constructing as it results in a warmer overall tone, while the composition retains its usual balance and calm.
To Kayleigh, the process of painting is meditative. It is creative relief from emotional stresses and meditations are translated onto her wooden board. Her emotions are palpable – some works feel lighter with the inclusion of openings and windows, and others feel heavy with concrete walls and darkness. But regardless of the predominant emotion, there will always be light in the darkness and vice versa.
— And Yet, If Only in And Yet, If Only (Gajah Gallery, 2018)
Joyce Choong
A City Orchestra: Room with Eucalyptus II
2020
City Debris, Eucalyptus, Cement, Ceramic on Wood
20 cm (d) x 2 cm thickness
Masterfully composed on a circular base, every element in A City Orchestra: Room with Eucalyptus II has been carefully considered and exists for the sake of achieving a sense of calm.
Eucalyptus, particularly in its essential oil form, is also known for its relaxing and healing properties. Kayleigh’s choice to add it to this piece might be to underlie the composition’s meditative and harmonious essence.
Kayleigh similarly invites us to pay close attention to the little wonders in the everyday, ephemeral moments that pass us by–(…) To her, these intangible experiences are much fuller than tangible possessions.
— The Scent That Lingers (Gajah Gallery, 2019)
Horizon Gazing with Shades of Brown
2022
Cement, Cement Strengthener, Wood Dye, Gesso on Wood
175 x 45 x 1.5 cm, Framed: 178.5 x 49.5 x 4 cm
In Horizon Gazing Shades of Brown, Kayleigh highlights the texture and colour of wood by framing each section with a strip of cement incrementally deepening its tone with wood dye.
A City Orchestra – Laneways
2020
Cement, Cement Strengthener, Acrylic Paint, Ceramic Tile on Wood
122.5 x 24 x 10 cm, Framed: 27.5 x 127 x 3.5 cm
Pieces of ceramic tile and wood panels push out of A City Orchestra – Laneways; maintaining the same stoicism and balanced composition as her other works, these inclusions experiment with some form of three-dimensionality in her work.
These material additions intrude on the viewer’s physical space and cast shadows which further confuses the illusion of depth in the work. As the idea of space moves from illusory to real, the viewer is reminded of the here and now, of their corporeal being.
Micro-landscapes of Bones VI (a, b)
2020
Eggshells, Cement, Gesso on Wood
76 x 9 cm each (2 pcs), 80 x 13 x 3.5 cm each (2 pcs)
Micro-lanscapes of Bones VI offers a reflection on bones as the microstructures and micro-landscapes of our bodies. Decorative patterns have been painted with gesso onto the wood panels to explore these intricate formations which mark the passage of time as we grow, heal, and engage with the physical world.
Changing Homes, Changing Identities
2024
Cement and Acrylic Paint on Wood
22 x17.5 x 10 cm
The notion that a physical space can be a mirror of its inhabitants inner self is explored in Changing Homes, Changing Identities. In this shifting amalgamation of cement and acrylic paint on wooden blocks, the material building blocks of our built environment, Kayleigh explores the relation between place and human intervention.
Changing Homes, Changing Identities II
2024
Cement and Acrylic Paint on Wood
29 x 15 x 8.5 cm
Kayleigh seems to be expanding her visual language from the illusion of space that she constructs in her paintings to the three-dimensional and sculptural in Changing Homes, Changing Identities II. Solid slabs of materials are combined together to create a composition that conveys presence and character.
A City Orchestra: Grey
2020 – Ongoing
Cement on Cement Block
10 x 10 x 0.8 cm
A City Orchestra: Tracing Room
2020 – Ongoing
Acrylic Paint on Ceramic Block
10 x 10 x 0.8 cm
What appears in A City Orchestra: Grey and A City Orchestra: Tracing Room are fragments of the spaces that we are familiar with. Provoking the viewer to imagine, these little pieces instinctively dig for memory and offer the viewer the agency to tell their own stories.
A City Orchestra: Home
Acrylic Paint, Cement and Tile on Cement Block
18 cm (d) x 2.5 cm
A counterbalance to Kayleigh’s large-scale paintings, these little round cement blocks focus only on slivers of spaces and their lingering materiality. Despite their humble and overtly small sizes, the titles from the series, A City Orchestra: Yarra River Shed, A City Orchestra: Tracing Melbourne, and A City Orchestra: Home, all allude to a richer and fuller story.
Deliberately marking the gulf between experience and memory, story and detail – the gaps exposed reveals what remains painfully hidden to us.
The Architecture of Happiness
2024
Cement, Acrylic, Gesso on Accacia Hardwood
182 x 1.8 x 121 cm
Architectural elements appear regularly in Kayleigh Goh’s body of work. In The Architecture of Happiness, Kayleigh has chosen to represent the cross section of a whole structure in its entirety; instead of her usual controlled view into a constructed space.
This multi-storied structure, or home, is markedly empty, creating a space where the viewer is allowed to reflect on the boundless possibilities.
Pink Lake Dessert
2024
Cement, Acrylic, Gesso on Accacia Hardwood
120 x 1.8 x 181 cm
Immersive and inviting, Pink Lake Dessert has a pair of steps leading from the base of the composition into the space. As if entering into another dimension, the viewer is quietly ushered in, paused off from reality, and allowed to take respite within the illusion of a bare and tranquil room or space. For the artist, the familiar medium and size of the constructed painting provides a contemplative energy for viewers to reflect on the possibilities of architectural space to influence and transform the body and emotions.
A Pocket of Bare Interior
2024
Volcanic Ash, Gesso on Stone
6.8 x 2 x 7 cm
Oddly wistful, the tones and colours of (title) seem faded and washed out – there are no sharp or dark shapes to contrast the paleness of the walls and each form seems to hazily blur into the other.
Like a soft scene, only to be retrieved through some murky recollection or a comforting dream, Kayleigh Goh explores notions of memory and remembrance.
Topography of Stillness
2024
Volcanic Ash, Eggshell on Ceramic
9.5 cm (dia) per piece
Turning to small, transient moments–Kayleigh’s small-scale pieces diverts from the familiar big picture and requires the viewer’s total attention, to be fully present, and appreciation. A powerful antithesis to today’s myriad distractions, these close-ups are more akin in size and effect to a classic old photograph – probing even deeper into the viewer’s metaphysical consciousness and alluring them with an elusive, nostalgic charm.
