Watercolourist Ong Kim Seng presents a collection of works influenced by his explorations of Nepal, Bali, Malaysia and his homeland Singapore, writes Sarah NH Vogeler
WHY do I love Ong Kim Seng’s watercolour landscapes? Perhaps because it is obviously engrained deep in his soul. The courtyard of Singapore’s Tien Hock Kheng Temple burnished under near charcoal skies and gloomy shadows; the quiet calm of Sekinchan; the grubby roads and dense edifices of Nepal’s Bhaktapur City, and Bali’s Saman Tiga in Ubud in ambered magnificence — all rendered dream-like.
It’s the artist’s gift for immortalising the immortal, his medium giving the works not just brilliant colour, but that sense of wondrous unpredictability. You can’t help but fall in love with Ong Kim Seng’s Different Lands, his second solo exhibition in Malaysia.
The self-taught artist’s love for painting stems from his childhood days, a vocation he dreamed of to “deepen the mystery” as English philosopher Francis Bacon said, while doodling in exercise books. His mother was opposed to his plans, wanting him instead to acquire work which relayed a steady income, a stable future. Kim Seng has held many jobs since completing his schooling in 1962, from painting signboards to being a welder, a mould room technician, a graphic art technician and a police officer.
“When there was a lull, and all was quiet, I’d take out my sketchbook and draw everything and anything. Even while holding all those jobs, I never stopped painting, drawing, thinking of painting, thinking of drawing. And so in 1985, I took the plunge - I became a full-time artist,” he says.
With little exposure to a formal art education, Kim Seng enrolled in classes conducted by the now defunct Equator Art Society, roamed all over Singapore in the 1960s, and painted en plein air (in the open air). Later, he became a familiar figure in the Sunday Group, led by one of Singapore’s key pioneer artists, Lim Cheng Hoe.
The group also included Ong Chye Cho (whose 1984 work Shady Dwelling remains so compelling to this day) and Chew Yew Seng, whose works are many; one, his 1970 painting Boats Beached at Low Tide, I find, in particular, breathtakingly beautiful.
An excerpt from an exhibition essay, Early Singapore Art - 1st and 2nd Generation Singapore Artists Watercolour Exhibition on The Sunday Group by Ma Pi Yi in 2012: “Following Singapore’s independence in 1965, arts and culture acquired an increasingly significant status and the local art scene was invigorated by the presence of new art circles and established art societies, including the Singapore Watercolour Society in 1969.
Among the founders and members of the Singapore Watercolour Society, several had not been able to participate in the Sunday Group. Although it was much more informal and smaller in size, the Sunday Group could be seen as a precursor to the Singapore Watercolour Society and had contributed immensely to the growth of watercolour art in early Singapore.
Although the Singapore Watercolour Society only came into existence in 1969, the watercolour traditions took roots in the history of Singapore art as early as the 1920s while Singapore was still a port city under British colonial reins.
Before the outbreak of WWII in the 1940s, the water colourists made up one of the three main groups of art practitioners within the local art scene. The other two dominant practices centred on the Traditional Chinese and the Nanyang style of art.
These divergent inclinations towards different aesthetic influences among the local art practitioners could be traced to the different education models and art trainings that artists underwent. For instance, artists who favoured the watercolour medium were usually the products of the British colonial education system. Apart from the English language, they were also exposed to British-influenced culture and trends. Watercolour, charcoal and pastel were taught as key mediums in their art classes.”
Kim Seng’s show at Interpr8 is also for a personal reason - his longtime friendship with owner Datuk N. Parameswaran.
The latter fondly reminisces: “During the period I was High Commissioner of Malaysia to Singapore from 2003 until 2008, Kim Seng and I would convene in various places - from restaurants to food courts, always on short notice because of conflicting schedules. An invitation to watch him paint one day in probably one of the last Malay kampungs (village) in Singapore was an opportunity not to be missed. That piece he conjured that day I still have in my possession, never to part with.
“One of the places we met at, one etched forever in mind, was with mutual friend, Ambassador Tommy Koh — on the platform of the — then KTM station.
“When Kim Seng had his first Malaysia solo in 2006, I was invited to open the show, and now at his second show, I am proud to be the host.”
Kim Seng has witnessed and experienced so many things. Different Lands, which includes both subtle and strong disparities, recaptures old and new days with just the right mix of nostalgia and an ache for times more tranquil.
Different Lands... in watercolours
When: Till Oct 31
Where: Interpr8 Gallery, Level G4, Publika,1 Jalan Dutamas 1, Solaris Dutamas, KL
Email: [email protected]
