“Prayer to Spring” is a showcase of my latest series of paintings on Sakura.  My interest in this topic started after I visited the Sakura Masuri Exhibition at Garden by the Bay in 2018. Thereafter, I made a trip to experience Hanami in its authentic setting in Japan (at Osaka Castle and Kenroku En at Kanazawa).

Spring is a universal language of rebirth. It is a season with the power to renew life, grants new beginning and the return of Love to Mother Earth.  A Prayer to Spring is the faith in this enormous strength that grants a new leash of life. Spring is found in all corners of the earth, celebrated by all cultures and languages, and depicted and performed in all genres of arts.

The blossoming of Sakura is a signpost to signal the arrival of Spring. I have chosen to create a new series of Sakura to denote Spring.  The paintings are deconstruction of the Sakura trees in their setting against the blue sky and white clouds.  Special seals have been created to accompany these paintings.  A soundtrack and a sound installation on Spring will accompany this exhibition. Soundscape collected in Japan, recital of Haiku in Japanese, poems on Spring in different languages and four pieces of music has been recorded to create the soundtrack. The music pieces include:

春雨 – performed by Huang Ming Xiang (pipa)

Improvisation of Hana – performed by Huang Ming Xiang (pipa) and Jazmine Kong (piano)

Gymnopedie – performed by Jazmine Kong (piano)

Sakura No Hana Variations (2017) – performed by Kevin Loh (guitar) and Huang Ming Xiang (pipa)

Recorded by Sound Engineer – Dayn Ng

Haiku/Poems recital by Tsujimoto Tadashi, Quek Kiat Sing, Honma Kanako, Sergey Kushnarev, Barbara Wlodkowska, Susanne Digel, Hioki Fumiko (in order of appearance).

A shorter revised version of this soundtrack is available at:

 https://spinnup.link/296897-prayer-to-spring