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Overview
2020
Watercolour on paper
Unique Work
Dimensions: 36.8cm (H) x 54.6cm (W) x 0.3cm (D) / 14.5" (H) x 21.5" (W) x 0.12" (D)
Note: Actual colours may vary due to photography & computer settings.
Artist Statement
The emptiness of the waters around Clarke Quay reflect the almost complete
decline of tourism in Singapore-symbolic of the larger collapse worldwide. The
waters, left un churned by taxi-boats, gave me the rare opportunity to depict the
soon-to-be-redeveloped Liang Court through it’s reflection. Liang Court was the
first Japanese mall in Singapore. Each reflected image tells a story and offers a
recording for posterity. Stories can refer to tales and to the levels of buildings.
Meanings are what we make them to be. Nearby, the Ord Bridge, also known as
Toddy Bridge, stands silent witness to the changing fortunes of Clarke Quay.
There was a time when country spirits were sold at the foot of the bridge, hence
it’s name. This is a moment of stillness before more change comes our way.
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Artist Profile
Born: 1972
Hometown: Singapore
Based in: Singapore
I am a watercolour artist. My work reflects my complex heritage and background- as an immigrant, a constant traveller and an inheritor of a highly diverse cultural and ethnic legacy. My formal and professional training has taken me, as well, through metal smithing, fashion illustration and weaving.The fluidity and freedom of watercolour allow me to cross borders effortlessly and give free rein to my instincts.
My subject matter is mostly our urban life, including parks, gardens, suburban towns and travel. I like to capture sites and moments within the cityscape and then provoke the viewer. Who are these people, what are they doing, what is happening on this street and around that corner? No one is ever settled in a city and beyond and before a specific second, something is about to occur or has occurred. There are, too, hidden secrets within dense cities-exotic flowers, architectural surprises, highly creative activities.
I began with Impressionism and its’ basics inform my work. But schools are only boundaries in our minds. I have deliberately chosen a more Abstract flavour, leavened with inputs from fashion, New Wave cinema and the DC comics of our childhood. This is not a pastoral life, the one we lead-it is full of movement, tension, interrogation. We need a different way to view the world and that holds true for artists. My work speaks to and for contemporary urban life and I will continue to experiment in this space. My work has been published in The Rappahannock Review, Anatolious Magazine, 3Elements Literary Review and Paranthesis Journal(forthcoming).
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