FOVEA

1992

gold paint mix on canvas

2.0 m x 1.6 m

This is my painterly rendition of the fovea, the pin-point spot at the back of the eye with the greatest aggregration of photoreceptors, where light rays land to give us a visualization of the world. It is a shimmering sea of yellow, orange, and gold.

PROTOPLASM

1994

Mixed media on canvas and wood 

Irregular 0.8m x 0.8m

The first living matter is the protoplasm. The nucleoli in the nucleus directs this microscopic lifeform. It is sustained by the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum. It moves by way of microtublar filaments which extend as protuberances.

Micro-organics

1996

mixed media on canvas

1.54  x 1.74m

Techgenesis

1996

Mixed media

2m x 3.8m (diptych).

Collection of National Arts Council

MILLIEU is a series of a dozen works created mostly in the years 1988 to1991 where large wooden board panels, salvaged from construction sites are worked on with layers of industrial and construction materials, primary plaster, concrete and cement, and wood glue and other forms of adhesives and surface sealants and varnishes. The objects that are baked into the dough are discarded computer board chip components and prints of microscopic organelles. Industrial metallic paints of varying penetration and gloss qualities are used to paint the surface. Constructution tools such as screws, nails and wires and part of the language.

The result is a dream world of imaginary terrain, landscape and city.

Whether this appreciation is seen as plan, elevation, or perspective, these works provoke a zoomed-out visualization of building blocks, towers, bridges and other urban infrastructures set amidst a terrain of moulds, hills and mountains that is in turn enveloped by the capricious mist and the rest of elements.

ANGST

acrylic on canvas

2005

Collection of the Singapore Art Museum

APATHY 

acrylic on canvas

2005

Collection of the Singapore Art Museum

Angst and Apathy are a pair of heads from a series of my works. In these works, the innovation is the proprietary mix of industrial paints that I have devised following some serendipituous discovery and analytical experimentation and laborious refinement. I have chosen to use black and white to emphasize the form and spatial voids in these figurines.

In creating these painterly works, I have relied on intuition. These works are a spontaneous manifestation of my subconscious. There is no more sentiment overhanging me more deeply than angst. If is the severe anxiety in many of us following the perceived lack of control in our journey of life. Here, the head melts into a contortion from the devilish pressures of life. And I do see faces of apathy all around. Apathy and angst come together. Apathy is the choice of many to remain powerliess when overwhelmed by angst. It is just emptiness. Here, the head is devoid of emotion, almost like the living dead.