It’s Showtime, and the puppet identifiable as Pinocchio, the inveterate liar (thus, his long elongating nose), is lowered down a parting curtain amidst a backdrop of ‘flying pigs’ probably referencing the adynaton, ‘When Pigs Fly’ about something impossible and preposterous. Whatever the interpretations of the ‘action’ or ‘non-action’ inherent in the painting, it’s a play, a drama performance, after all. This brings to mind, William Shakespeare’s immortal quote from the play, Macbeth, “Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, and then is heard no more. It’s a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” The work was first presented in the Nue4 four-man show at the Pace Gallery (now called Nadine Fine Art) in 2013. Azrin first gained notice when he won a Special Award in a painting exhibition organised at the National Art Gallery Malaysia in 2009. A member of Nizam Rahmat’s Ara Damansara artists’ enclave, he showed at Fergana’s Boundaries Of (Dis)beliefs, START Art Fair (under Galeri Chandan’s Cheriteria), and has been represented in Art Expo Malaysia since 2013. He received his MA (Fine Art) and BA (Hons, Graphic Design) from the Universiti ITM.