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Exhibition

Exhibition

31 March to 14 April 2020

Prayer to Spring – LOVE (Postponed To Later Date)

31 March to 14 April 2020

Prayer to Spring – LOVE

Official Opening (Postponed To Later Date)

Visual Arts Centre

10 Penang Road, #01-02 Dhoby Ghaut Green, Singapore 238469

Opening Hours

11 April   10am-8pm

12 April   10am-8pm

13 April   10am-8pm

14 April    10am-5pm

followed by Performance at 3.30pm by Pipa Musican, Huang Ming Xiang &

Talk on soundtrack by Dayn Ng, Huang Ming Xiang, Kelvin Loh and Jazime Kong

on 12 April 2020 (Sunday) 2.30pm

Discussion by the collectors of pets paintings and shelter volunteers

 

Artist’s Statement

“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

A second part of the show, “Love” will be dedicated to a series of pet paintings commissioned by various collectors.   I have not had a chance to showcase these works that have already been created.  Hence, I hope that this will be a platform to allow this body of works to come together.  Animals are pure love.  All pet owners can attest to this. My journey to paint them started with my own pets, Mandy (Chihuahua), and Bear Bear (Holland Lop).  Chinese Ink painting on animals and pets are rare in Singapore. I am glad that I can allow Chinese Ink painting to take on a new life with this subject.

Prayer to Spring – LOVE

Date: 11 – 14 April 2020 (Sat – Tue) (Postponed To Later Date)

Time: (10am to 8pm daily, except for 14 April 2020, show ends at 5pm)

Venue: Visual Arts Centre, 10 Penang Road, #01-02 Dhoby Ghaut Green, Singapore 238469

(nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut Station, the Gallery is just above the MRT Station)

Special Events:

11 April 2020, Sat, 2:30pm – Opening Ceremony

11 April 2020, Sat, 3:30pm – Performance and talk by the musicians on the Production of the Soundtrack

12 April 2020, Sun, 2:30pm – Discussion by Collectors and Shelter Volunteers on the pet paintings commissioned

Quek Kiat Sing (born 1972) juxtaposes modern-day subjects with traditional Chinese Ink to emphasize the relevancy of Asian culture in contemporary life. She has received numerous awards and has been commended in competitions such as the Sovereign Asian Art Prize, United Overseas Bank Painting of the Year Competition, the Dr Tan Tsze Chor Art Award and the China ASEAN Youth Artwork Creativity Contest. She has twice been awarded the Freeman Fellowship at Vermont Studio Centre, USA; represented Singapore at the ASEAN Cultural Week in Vietnam in 2004; represented Singapore in the India-ASEAN Artist residency at Darjeeling, India in 2012; and has been selected to provide the artwork for Shenton Way MRT Station under the Land Transport Authority’s Art-in-Transit program for the upcoming Thomson Line.  Her favorite subject matters include the lotus ponds, mundane scenes of people and places in Singapore, as well as small animals.