Oil Portrait # 10 : Lady in green

(H) 60cm X (B) 50cm

Year 2009


Artist's Inspiration : This is a piece of painting that I am personally proud of, as it is one of the few works that seem to come off on its own and command its own presence and seem to have a life of its own, as most figure painters might aspire to, with everything sort of falling into place as my brush would dictate, and where it doesnt, the accidental results harmonize with my intentions. It truly feels like a creation, and not mere illustration, as I have successfully painted her as I "see and feel" her to be, rather than mimetic portrayal of physical appearance. In trying to paint her as a royalty, my admiration for her finds itself encapsulated in her sideway glance, as if reciprocating the viewer's gaze is disdainful to her taste and beneath her. I like it that the picture seems to imbue in her a matriarchal-like attitude, reassured  and comfortable in her own being, as signified by the relaxed manner with which her left hand rests loosely on the armchair, suggesting a life that asks only to be served. (Although, this is most certainly untrue, being a fiercely independent woman who would insist on doing anything on her own where possible, I had deliberately painted the hand in the manner to signify a parallel life that she is more deserving of, after all the hardship that she's been through. Yes, I am being a sentimental maudlin here..guffaws).
The fabric that she dons is painted loosely and forcefully, to enhance the vigor of her image, by infusing it with an elemental like form, not unlike the aura of optimism she wears in real.
The color scheme and transition also seemed to work on my senses alot better than my previous works and I hope this is a precursor of better paintings to come.
I am especially grateful for how chance has assisted me in painting the face so that it seems to have assumed a life of its own and comes closer to what I aspire to try and paint "the invisible rythm and impulses" of nature in Man. (See detail below)
 

Face Detail of Lady in Green

 

Oil Portrait #9: Man and Child

(H) 60cm X (B) 50cm

Year 2009

Artist's Inspiration: This picture is motivated by a compelling need to paint my fascination with the myriad interpretations of "Adoration of the Magi" and "Virign and child" by the Old masters; the beatific images of Mother Mary looking dutifully and compassionately upon her blessed child.
It was a chance occasion where I had the opportunity to snap a picture of my uncle holding another's child, and caught them in a pose that had that timeless verisimilitude to the old masterpieces.
I decided to do a contemporary take on the subject matter, which allowed me to  confront my intrigue on canvas, with how a gentle tilt of the head and a slight upturn of the lips that belie a shy smile could summarize so powerfully and eloquently an emotion such as compassion. The picture was set up as an index of contrasts, of old age vs youth, where dark brown colors don the Man's face, to resemble the barky sturdiness of a tree trunk, from which the fruit of youth hangs delicately in its vibrant and robust peachy colors, of strength vs vulnerability, of awareness vs oblivion, framed in the adult's focused obsession with the beauty of the young child in his perambulator's brace, while the infant takes in greedily the visual feast offered by his new found world, unaware of the meaning of unconditional love that has yet to touch his conscience.
The halo is added on as I thought it might help to give the painting that traditionalist, timeless sheen...
Perhaps only time will tell if it is justified..

Oil Portrait# 8: Sleeping Man

(H) 50cm X (B) 60cm




Year 2009


Artist's Inspiration: As a fledging artist with limited resources, there is little original material to work with, hence another document of a familial relation. My father deep in slumber, head rested on his convenient pillow which he uses for his siestas. However, on this occasion, the expression that his visage countenanced seems to animate his lifeless body with frightful urgency, as if fending off some imagined disturbance. It affected me profoundly that sleep was not merely a restful pastime but also a redemption activity through which one's suppressed difficult emotions are purged. I felt it necessary to document this visual fact and painted the picture as a still life practice, finishing it from a photo reference.
However, quite strangely, by some mysterious alchemy of oil painting, the finished painting had a different effect from my original intention. It was a glorious beast of Nature, deep in sleep, yet self aware of its power. And by virtue of the painting's perspective, it sets up a predator-prey relationship in the world of imagery, and it had the double effect of transforming the mighty animal into one held in captivity...empowering the stature of the artist in the relationship with the painted. This helped for me to appreciate coiled tension inherent in the picture, like a carousel spinning on the axis of the predator/prey argument, an unexpected endowment, but certainly pleasant for my appreciation of the work.

Oil Portrait # 7 : The Schizophrenic Primate

(H) 75cm X (B) 60cm

Year 2009

Artist's Inspiration : The painting aspires to be a philosophical allegory of the tragic human condition, accursed by Man’s reflective consciousness that has shadowed His existence since time immemorial.
He crouches in resigned acknowledgement of His predicament, condemned to being an indeterminate and ambiguous entity that cannot be truly liberated in His animalistic corporeality which His self-consciousness demands to negate, nor be fully actualized in transcendental being. Man can live only as an appearance of temporal possibilities, a continual process of self-surpassing, a twisted rope of fictional reason convoluted by the opposing forces of Animal and Self-awareness. It is precisely this continual self-negation that His existence is predicated upon, an infernal curse that even centuries of civilization offer no protection against.
This internal struggle is evident in the pervading sense of disenfranchisement in the individual and sporadic pockets of societal violence around the world today, manifestations of Man’s innate need to destroy and reinvent Him-self, a Sisyphean task that Man is bound by, even as His shadow of self-consciousness struggles to escape, to transcend….

Oil Portrait #6: Birth

(H) 40cm x (B) 50cm

Year 2009

Artist's inspiration : A newborn is a violent encounter of formless consciousness and corporeality, an anthropomorphic geyser spurt of unadulterated prismatic possibilities, and relentless in asserting the purity of its presence. Birth is a bloodcurdling scream of pain that resonates with life’s immanent cry of despair, suggesting a prescient knowledge of both physicality and futility. Perhaps, birth being just as difficult as death, makes life merely an unnatural habit that we have grown accustomed and cling to.

Oil Portrait # 5 :Beauty in Authenticity

(H) 50cm X (B) 60cm

Year 2009

Artist's inspiration:This painting is inspired by the graceful pose of my Mum in slumber.




Sleep unfetters Man from Ego and false notions of Self, a respite from the conformist demands of social judgement and obligations that are his passport among his peers. In this blissful oblivion, Man is authentic, free from hypocrisy, and transforms into a conduit for the expression of nature’s mysterious and invisible pulsations, not unlike those that have found form in the flourish of flora and fauna. It is the beauty of dramatic human form dancing with the metamorphic fluidity of the dreamscape that the picture tries to portray, in its ambition to be a clarion call for Man to unravel himself and return to a more natural state of being.

Oil Portrait #4 : Self Portrait (II)

(H) 40cm X (B) 50cm

Year 2009

Artist's Inspiration:
This portrait is an instinctive reaction to salvage myself from the state of oppression that I felt was suffocating me, having realized that for the most of my life, it has been arranged to oblige, hardly anything conducted out of self volition could be documented about my quotidian existence thus far in my actions and decisions as an individual. However, I felt helpless to change things, acknowledging my limits as a mere statistic, as much as my dependence on the working principles of society, in spite of my dissatisfaction. This ambivalence gnawed at my heart like worms burrowing through it. The disgust I felt for myself gave form to this vengeful attitude in the portrait, an explosion of bestial energy that dissipate in the act of chewing on the bloody rag of a heart, enshrouded in a miasma of flaming hatred. I felt remorseful though, after the act of painting this portrait, because in some way I felt like I have selfishly violated art, degenerating it to a mere vent for my perverse tantrums.

Oil Portrait # 3: Self Portrait (I)

(H) 60cm x (B) 50cm
Year 2009

Artist's Inspiration:
This self portrait was done during a period of intense introspection. The process of self reflection was a strong impetus behind this project as I contemplated the short history of my existence, the origins of my identity, the roots of my individuality, the progress of my emotional development and my current constitution. There was a deep sense of emotional upheaval, even as I immersed deeper in the realization that there is nothing I could truly call my own. I felt disoriented, ex-communicated and lost from the emptiness that stared back at me like a dark abyss as I looked inwards. Hence, the detached head to convey a sensation of one having lost his bearings, the duality of dark crimson and bright orange tones to illustrate the transition from hope to despair, the face carved out in shreds of sickly colors to emphasize this brutal self-confrontation. However, at the end of the work, somehow my spirit felt rejuvenated and inspired, and I felt an intense urge to redeem the portrait from utter desolation and started swiping thick green hues in illogical and unstructured strokes by the side to articulate this nascent but inexplicable breath of renewed hope.

Oil Portrait #2 : Michael Schumacher

(H) 60cm X (B) 50cm

Year 2008

Artist's Inspiration:
This is a portrait intuited by admiration for the man’s obdurate faith in his ability to triumph over seemingly insurmountable obstacles and his indefatigable ardor for victory in every challenge that his ego condescends to take up. I especially like the power of the hand gesture that seems to acknowledge another but demands obeisance and recognition of his own superiority.

First Oil Portrait attempt (Sweeney Todd)

(H) 60cm x (B) 50cm

Year 2008

Artist's Inspiration: This portrait is inspired by adoration for the subject’s unyielding determination to seek revenge on the society that brought about the collapse of his once ordinary familial life. The portrait aims to capture the menacing quality of tenacity and cunning grit in the persona that nourish the insatiable thirst for justice to be restored.