Original art by Malaysian-born Lean Chew. Contemporary with a distinct Asian influence, the works reflect various themes, approaches, materials and moods.
I find that when my mind is calm and clear, the strokes and marks that I make on the paper surface are light and natural. The work that is composed in this way tends to be simple but may have an unexpectedly pleasing or striking effect.
I don’t have a fixed or detailed plan as to how a drawing or painting will turn out. When I am making a work, I reflect on a particular feeling or state of mind and let my senses and judgement be guided by my drawing and painting tools, support ( ie paper,board, fabric) and art material. This intuitive approach to making artwork is influenced by the ancient Chinese belief in change as a fundamental reality in the world.
Pencil man, 2001,
pencil on canvas, 31 x 21 cm
Emerging, 2001 Paint on layered fabric, 28 x 18 cm
Lindsay Anderson was the gallery director of Art Affairs Gallery in Carlton, Melbourne. He wrote this article for Lean’s first solo exhibition in Melbourne , ‘Kindred Spirits’ held at Art Affairs Gallery from 28 June to 9 July 2000.
‘Workers’ pay homage to ‘all those who make an honest living with their hands’. The subjects are local to a specific area in Singapore, coincidentally known as Arcadia. Much has changed in Singapore but, in this enclave, something remains of the Singapore that was.
It is obvious that Lean is fascinated by the hooded grasscutters that scythe their way through lush parklands, the street sweepers that swish with tufted brooms and gardeners that blend so well with the foliage that surrounds them – their crusted hands at one with the soil. There is great dignity to all the workers she has chosen to record in charcoal, paint and wax pencil.
With her grasscutters she has expressed visually what the poet Robert Frost has so sensitively put into words…
I went to turn the grass once after one Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.
The dew was gone that made the blade so keen Before I cam to view the leveled scene.
But he had gone his way, the grass all mown, And I must be, as he had been – alone,
“As all must be,” I said within my heart, “Whether they work together or apart.” RF
Sweeper #2, 1998, Oil on canvas,30 x 25 cm. Sold
Sweeper#3, 1998, Oil on canvas, 30x25cm. Sold
Both Lean and Robert Frost are fascinated by grasscutters and in them, they have found kindred spirits to their own. There is certainly a common bond that links the grasscutter, sweeper, gardener and this could extend to include painter and poet. Another poem by Robert Frost, that is written in dialogue form, speaks of a worker who deals skillfully with wood. One of the participants wants to classify this man as a carpenter, joiner or cabinet-maker. The poet says no to this notion and ends the poem by saying…
“And I think he is just a man, expressing himself.” RF
Gardener at Hillcrest Arcadia, 1997
Wax pencil. Sold
It may be possible for us all to contribute some measure of dignity to the various jobs we do – to express ourselves in ways that are uniquely ours. Lean’s grasscutters and sweepers, gardener and cleaner, achieve this.
Lindsay Anderson June 2000
To view other drawings and paintings of 'Workers', go to:
Image: Mum (after Daumier), 1994, conte and wash, 50x35cm
This short article was written by my sister, Catherine for my exhibition ‘Facets of a Woman’ in Singapore 1995.
A simple housewife in a small town, who brought up fourteen children, Mother was remarkable for her creativity. This was evident in her capacity for creating and telling stories. Mother made story- telling an art. Children in the neighbourhood gathered to hear her spin her dazzling yarns of gods, goddesses, emperors and ordinary village people, tales often underlain by much folk wisdom. For a while, Mother even began to write stories, turning out family sagas on cheap, lined copybooks, in the best tradition of Hong Kong movies. Here she was severely handicapped by an incomplete education, a limitation that must have been most frustrating to her creative energies. They remain alive, however, in her old age, and there is nothing mother enjoys more than yarn with family and friends.
Catherine Lim
April 1995
A best-selling Singaporean fiction author, Catherine Lim has published more than 10 collections of short stories, five novels, two poetry collections and numerous political commentaries. She was awarded the HonoraryDoctorate in Literature from Murdoch University and Southeast Asia Write Award.
T.K. Sabapathy is an art historian and art critic in Singapore. He has researched and published extensively on art in Southeast Asia, providing important foundations for the study of art in the region. He co-edited the book ‘Eye of the Beholder : Reception, Audience , And Practice of Modern Asian Art' (2007) and is the author of ‘Configuring the Body : Form and Tenor in Ng Eng Teng's Art’ (2003), ‘Past, Present, Beyond : Re-Nascence of an Art Collection’ (2002); 'Modernity and Beyond : Themes in Southeast Asian Art' (1996), 'Vision and Idea : Relooking Modern Malaysian Art' (1994) and 'Sculpture in Singapore : National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore, 16 November-15 December 1991'.
She Knows All, 1994, Oil on canvas,120x90cm. Collection of Channie Chan, Canada
Portraits bring into relief complex relationships and high expectations. Firstly, there is the reference or allusion to an original, to the artist’s intention to portray someone. Such aims lead to queries such as: What is the nature of the connection between the artist and the person portrayed? Or, for that matter, what forces prompt, instigate and sustain this connection? Questions such as these do have to do with ways by which relationships between the self and the other are negotiated and fixed at any moment or for any occasion.
Secondly, portraits come into existence along the terrain where art and social life intersect or collide with each other; the force of social norms affect the artist and the subject as both are enmeshed in the value systems of their society. In this sense, portraits vividly exemplify conventions or codes by which who a person is and how a person appears, are developed and crystallized. For, to be an artist is to assume a public presence and appear in public.
Thirdly, there is the fascinating yet enormously difficult task of conveying personhood. A portrait is not just an aggregate of social codes; nor is it only a social artifact. That is to say, when encountering a portrait, viewers expect artists to express an individual’s personality and identity. And however implausible it may seem, it is expected that a sense of inner character or soul be somehow revealed or demonstrated in portraits.
Chew Lean Im’s series of paintings and drawings, all of which are portraits of her mother, can be read as touching all these three bases, namely: the relationship between the artist and her subject, conventions by which a person is presented to the public, and conveying or expressing the personality of her mother. Conceptually and formally, she has made promising beginnings.
A wedding photograph is the spur for her development. Taken in 1932, it features her mother (a bride at the age of seventeen), seated in a deep, curved chair with her head slightly bowed and staring in a fixed manner; her right hand is crossed over her abdomen, while her left is placed above her knee; her feet point inwards. If her mother appears dimunitive or tentative, then her father stands upright and looks out of the picture confidently and strikes a commanding presence.
Mum as a young bride, 1994
Acrylic on canvas, 90x60cm
This photographic image of her mother is the source for a number of compositions (her father appears infrequently, and when he does, only partially). In these pictures, she is presented formally, placed at a distance and appears inaccessible – an impression conveyed by the mask-like rendering of the face.
Lean Im also portrays her mother in distinct environments or surroundings, seeking to symbolically represent her interests and involvements in the social and cultural fields. In them, her mother is presented frontally and at close range, with attributes signalling her interest in opera, and in ascertaining character by reading a person’s face and palm. In these compositions, Lean Im projects her mother as a person with a forceful presence, able to deal with and shape her surroundings on her own terms.
Mum, 1993, Pen 40 x 30 cm
There are also a number of intimate and scrutinizing disclosures; these are particularly vivid and concrete in her drawings. Lean Im comes face to face with her mother, and holds her stance without flinching. Drawing is a medium she should develop as it can be a powerful means for fixing and expressing highly-charged, emotional states.
This parable from the Taoist text 'Chuang Tzu' has always been my inspiration:
Woodworker Ch’ing[1] carved a piece of wood and made a bell stand, and when it was finished, everyone who saw it marveled, for it seemed to be the work of gods or spirits. When the marquis of Lu saw it, he asked, “What art is it you have?”
Ch’ing replied, “I am only a craftsman – how would I have any art? There is one thing , however. When I am going to make a bell stand, I never let it wear out my energy. I always fast in order to still my mind. When I have fasted for three days, I no longer have any thought of congratulations or rewards, of titles or stipends. When I have fasted for five days, I no longer have any thought of praise or blame, of skill or clumsiness. And when I have fasted for seven days, I am so still that I forget I have four limbs and a form and a body. By that time, the ruler and his court no longer exist for me. My skill is concentrated and all outside distractions fade away. After that, I go into the mountain forest and examine the heavenly nature of the trees. If I find one of superlative form, and I see a bell stand there, I put my hand to the job of carving; if not, I let it go. This way, I am simply matching up ‘Heaven’ with ‘Heaven’[2]. That’s probably the reason that people wonder if the results were not made by spirits.”
Source: Chuang Tzu, Basic Writings, translated by Burton Watson, Columbia University Press, 1964
[1] A carpenter of Lu, mentioned in the Tso chuan under Duke Hsiang 4th year (569 B.C.) [2] That is, matching up his own innate nature with that of the tree.
LEAN CHEW Education 1981 B.A.Hons (English), University of Singapore
1984 Dip.Ed (English), Singapore
1994 Diploma in Fine Art, LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore
1997 B.A.(Fine Art), Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
2007 Master of Visual Art, La Trobe University, Australia
Professional experience 1995 -1999 Art instructor, Very Special Arts, Singapore
1998– 2003 Sessional lecturer; practising artist, Singapore and Australia
2001 Workshop presenter, ‘Buddhism with Batik’, Art Education Victoria Annual Conference
2001 Portrait artist, Women with ‘Getupandgo’, Bowling Club Studios,Melbourne
2002 Life-Drawing Demonstrator, Opening of Ballroom Event, SOFITEL Hotel. Melbourne
2003- 2008 School teacher; practising artist, Brunei
2009-2010 Artist in Residence, Arts Academy, University of Ballarat, Victoria Australia
Individual Exhibitions2006 Visual Arts Centre, La Trobe University, Bendigo
2005Mindscapes, Alliance Francaise, Brunei
2002 Artworks 9 Gallery, Melbourne
2001Language of Feeling, Art Affairs Gallery, Melbourne
2001 Citro Restaurant, Sebel Hotel, Melbourne
2000Kindred Spirits, Art Affairs Gallery, Melbourne
1995Facets of a Woman, Raffles Centre, Singapore
Selected Group Exhibitions
2009 AIR8, Post Office Gallery, University of Ballarat, Australia
2005[x?] artists – one boat, The Empire Hotel, Brunei
2004A taste of Brunei, The Empire Hotel, Brunei
2004Art Forum, Brunei Museum Art Gallery
2002 Yering Station Sculpture Exhibition, Victoria, Australia
2002 St Kilda Bowling Club Studios Exhibition, Melbourne
2002 Art 2 Gallery end of year exhibition, Singapore
2001Women with Getupandgo, St Kilda Town Hall, Melbourne
2000 Gallery 4A, Sydney
2000Y2K Australian Association of Chinese Artists show,Melbourne
1998Praxis, Staff Exhibition, Lasalle-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore
1997 President’s Charity Art Exhibition, Earl Lu Gallery, Singapore
1993Art In Asia, World Trade Centre, Singapore
1992 Phillippe Charriol Contemporary Art Exhibition, Singapore
Collections
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force, Art Focus Gallery Singapore; private collections: Australia, Canada, UK, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei
Commissions 2002Painting (collaboration with Shao), Dr Tan Su Ming, Singapore 1998 Portrait of Mother, Catherine Lim, Singapore
1995 Portrait, Great Eastern Life Insurance, Singapore
1995 Book illustrator for Joy Cowley’s Readers, Stories of Asia, Heinemann
1994 Corporate calendar, Birds of Asia, Jurong Engineering Ltd, Singapore
Awards
2001 Acquisitional Award, Yarra Valley Art Show, Melbourne
1996 National Arts Council Bursary, Singapore
1992 Merit Award, Anti-pickpocket Poster Competition, Singapore Police Force 1992 Distinction, Phillippe Charriol Contemporary Art Competition, Singapore
1985 Outstanding Performance in Teaching Practice, Institute of Education, Singapore
This blog shows various art work done at different periods of my art practice. You will also find my artist statement, artist profile, a few articles and reviews and some personal reflections.
.jpg)
.jpg)
+1994.jpg)
.jpg)
