Two of a Kind II: Ching Kai and Marla Bendini

Cuturi Gallery is delighted to present Two of a Kind II, the second edition of two concurrent solo presentations by two Singaporean artists: Adult Toys by Ching Kai and Sista Paintings by Marla Bendini. The exhibitions explore the complexities of human experience through contrasting material languages and personal perspectives. From the pursuit of power and control to the bonds of intimacy, solidarity and chosen family, both artists consider how our desires, relationships and lived experiences shape the worlds we inhabit.

In Adult Toys, Ching Kai (b. 1980) explores the relationship between human desire and the means through which we seek power and control. This series, his first solo presentation with the gallery, juxtaposes raw, geological forms with highly refined, manufactured objects: works on greyboard take the form of faceted boulders, suggesting fragments of land, debris or remnants, while works on gold paper are meticulously finished, depicting ambiguous forms that recall military hardware, missile components, gyroscopes and consumer technologies.

Through this contrast, Ching Kai considers humanity’s enduring desire to shape, influence and exert control over the world around us, and how these impulses evolve alongside technological progress. The dichotomy of the two bodies of work brings together themes of force, technology and land dominance without prescribing a single relationship between them. As technology becomes increasingly advanced and embedded in everyday life, objects with the capacity to exert power can become familiar, accessible and even ordinary. The same impulse towards refinement is also evident in consumer culture, where the pursuit of ever-smaller, thinner and more efficient devices reflects our constant desire for improvement.

The title Adult Toys hints at the intimate intersection of power and pleasure, where the appetite for control becomes complicit in the pursuit of sensation and satisfaction. Yet beneath the apparent sophistication of these manufactured objects lies a certain fragility. However advanced they may appear, they remain subject to wear, obsolescence and eventual disappearance. Rather than positioning the works as a critique of others, Ching Kai turns the inquiry inwards, inviting viewers to reflect on their own instincts to control and wield power, and the gratification these impulses offer. The exhibition ultimately becomes a reflection on ourselves: on the desires that drive our pursuit of progress, and the agency and responsibility we hold in determining how these tools are used.

In her 10th solo exhibition, Marla Bendini (b. 1986) brings together works - coined ‘sista-paintings’ - that speak to one another in intimate groupings, offering multiplicity as ways of looking and reading. They tether within a world of shifting boundaries, fractured timelines, and inner realities. Some are deliberate markers; others emerge through proximity, repetition, or chance.

‘Sista’ is an affectionate, playful term of endearment among gay men, transgender people, feminine-presenting people, and the LGBTQ+ community– an expression of friendship, solidarity, and chosen family.

These tethers manifest as personal symbols, atmospheric landscapes, and a dedicated series of portraits of her ‘sistas’ who stand as beacons of survival, justice, grief, and unconditional love. Introspective drawings and writings lay bare the artist’s thought processes, mapping time-place-bodies-relationships-rituals.

Moving between archive / memory / imagination and concealment / conversation / revelation, Bendini transmutes the queer experience into a constellation of works across time -forces of nature that hold immense emotional gravity.

Two of a Kind II will be on view at Cuturi Gallery Singapore, 61 Aliwal Street, Singapore 199937 from 21 November 2026 – 2 January 2027.