How a Celine Dion song kept artist CC Kua sane during her extended lockdown residency

Kua's 'It's Time To Go Home' (gouache on paper, 2020), which details her residency programme extended stay at Rimbun Dahan during the movement control order (MCO). Photos: CC Kua

What happens when you are away on an artist residency and a pandemic strikes?

In CC Kua’s case, the implementation of the movement control order (MCO) in March meant three things: her residency at Rimbun Dahan, which was supposed to end in early April, was extended by a month; she spent several weeks at the garden-like residency grounds on her own (the other artists left before MCO started); and she sang (Celine Dion's) All By Myself every day – which ended up being the title of her current solo exhibition at The Back Room in Kuala Lumpur.