Not Today, Not Tomorrow

Esmond Loh (b. 1995, Singapore) works primarily in painting. He won the prestigious 31st UOB Paint- ing of the Year Competition in Singapore in 2012 when he was 17 years old, for his first attempt at oil painting titled Just Let Me Sleep. Thus far, he has had three solo exhibitions, the latest being an online Artsy exclusive in 2018. He has participated in group exhibitions such as SIZE MATTERS: A Question of Scale (2018) at Chan + Hori Contemporary in Singapore; Passages (2015) at the UOB Art Gallery, Singapore and Common Ground (2015) at Shophouse 5, Singapore. Taking inspiration from his thoughts, observations, memories and experiences, he imagines scenes that are charged with tension, absurdity and drama. He is currently reading Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, United Kingdom. Esmond’s paintings are conversations he has with himself about his thoughts, observations, memories, experiences and imagination. Taking many different forms, they range from hyperrealistic portraits capturing a moment in time, to quiet and contemplative scenes examining time and space.

His recent works hover between the figurative and the abstract, depict visual realities constructed from an array of motifs. Taking inspiration from the Surrealists and the Formalists, he builds up his compositions freely and spontaneously, paying close attention to how various forms, colours and textures work with one another. To him, painting is akin to directing a film sequence on a two-dimensional plane and he is interested in the drama, tension and ambiguity that can be evoked through it.