fish before and after

a piece of clay work which I did during in secondary 3 during my own free times (:

chinese culture

medium: ink on paper

three pieces of work done for coursework, experimentations with the patterns found in the chinese culture!

topics and areas of interests

Bureaucracy: it refers to a system of government, administration and organization.

To be related to social-cultural issues, it means that general public have no says in the management of a country

Canon: a fundamental principle or general rule, which means that they are the basic principles that one must follow in the society

Diaspora: literally, Diaspora refers to the scattering of the Jews to countries outside of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity.

It also can refer to any group that has been dispersed outside its traditional homeland.

Fundamentalism: a movement in American Protestantism that arose in the early part of the 20th century in reaction to modernism and that stresses the infallibility of the Bible not only in matters of faith and morals but also as a literal historical record, holding as essential to Christian faith belief in such doctrines as the creation of the world, the virgin birth, physical resurrection, atonement by the sacrificial death of Christ, and the Second Coming.

strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or principles

Holocaust: a great or complete devastation or destruction

Destructions to the society

The unconscious: those people who cannot see clearly what is going on in the society, referring the blind.

The terms chosen: Behaviour, Class, Community, Freedom, Human rights, Nation, post-colonialism, poverty, society, and west and east

The above terms are closely related to the themes ‘memory and monument’ and ‘social relations’. Through the use of artworks, narratives and rituals, people have always tried to capture the past both as individuals and as a whole society in the form of monumentalizing past events. The happenings with in the society have always been one of the most commonly depicted topics in artworks, constantly showing us how the people at different times have been living under what kind of conditions. Many a times, the behaviors of people are also shown through these artworks. The community, the different classes and other things are all shown in the artworks. Also, many artists make use of their artworks to try to express their ideas, to reflect what the society they live in is like instead of just plainly recording what they see to the naked eyes. Issues such as the prevalent poverty, the difference in wealth between the different classes in the society, negative impacts of wars, colonialism and occupation have always been widely discussed. We can see this from a few paintings. Here are some examples. We have ‘Luncheon of the boating party’ by Pierre Auguste Renoir, ‘Breton Peasant Women’ by Paul Gaugain, ‘The joy of life’ by Henri Matisse, ‘Potato Eaters’ by Van Gogh, ‘Consecration of the emperor Napoleon I and the coronation of the empress’ by Jacques Louis David and ‘Liberty leading the people’ by Delacroix Eugene. All these paintings show some happenings in the society during the times of that particular artist.

Life by the river Oil on canvas Liu Kang Singapore Art Museum

Bathers at Asnieres 1883-84 (retouched 1887) 79 x 118 1/2 in National Gallery, London

Moreover, by comparing paintings done by artists from different countries, we are also able to compare and contrast between the cultural differences between the East and West. For example, we can compare ‘Life by the River’ by Singapore local artist Liu Kang and ‘Bathers at Asnieres’ by British post-impressionist Georges Seurat.

Though both paintings depict a scene beside a river, the subject matters convey a different message, thus showing the differences between the Eastern and Western cultures. For the first painting, those beside the river are all enjoying themselves at leisure. In comparison, those by the river in the second painting, although also mostly enjoying themselves, are quite action-packed. We can see children playing games with each other at the foreground of the painting and some people pushing the boats back onto the shore at the left hand side of the painting. Through the painting, we can also tell the difference in the lifestyles of the people from the West and East. As we can see from the first painting, the river is located rather far from the developed city areas which diffuse into the background. In contrast, the river in the second painting is located fairly close to the houses in which many Singaporeans used to reside in. In fact, they are next to each other, side by side. This shows that Singaporeans during the 1970s depended largely on the rivers for survival. Many activities take place beside the river.

In conclusion, the above terms are closely related to the themes ‘memory and monument’ and ‘social relations’. Art is a form of expression. Indeed, a picture speaks a thousand words. Without writing out anything in black and white, artists are able to reflect the societies which they live in. These paintings would be able to be preserved for centuries, so that people living after are able to learn more about their ancestors’ societies. Social and cultural issues have always been widely discussed in the works of artists throughout the histories of art.

guzheng concert backdrop

Here are the backdrops which I did for the Guzheng concert this year! Some of the pictures were taken by myself (the piano keys, the flowers and the scores) because I really couldn’t find any nice ones online!

guzheng programme booklet

I didn’t do these designs, I was just in charge of the programme committee overall. Credit of these programme booklet designs goes to Clara and her committee of members!

紫韵筝情II

Gel Gel

did my own name using coloured gel and edible alphabate letters! It was really hard trying to put the alphabate letters into the gel becaue most of the time they simply refuse to go down D:

comments/criticism I–samantha’s kois

Artist: Samantha Chia

Medium: Arylic on canvas

Size: 120 x 40 cm

Honesty speaking, looking at this painting makes me feel so awed. Taking a closer look at the close-ups which Samantha has uploaded make me feel even more awe-stricken. This painting is simply great! The kois are presented in a realistic way with a great compostion that is balanced. The choice of colour, mainly naturalistic, harmonious and warm colours, give the painting a sense of warmth. It is also rather striking so that our attention will be focussed on the painting. I especially like the way in which the kois have been captured, they are lively and add a sense of motion to the painting. The expressions of the kois have also been accurately captured. I feel really humbled seeing Samantha’s work and I will push myself harder to achieve greater standard! There are not exactly much which I feel that the painting could improve on besides the scale of the drawing and the choice of paints. Perhaps it could have been done on a bigger scale to create a bigger impact. Also, maybe Samantha should have considered the use of oil paints instead of arcylic paints to give the iconography more a sense of depth,, and at the same time, adds weight to the painting.

anyhow, I still think it’s a great piece of work!