Revisiting past work

Comments below by Singapore art critic and historian T.K.Sabapathy
  are selected from his article on my first solo exhibition Facets of a Woman in Singapore in 1995.

Mum as a young bride 1, 1994, Acrylic on canvas, 90 x 60 cm

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 quite inaccessible – an impression conveyed by the mask-like

rendering of her face.

 

She knows all, 1994, Acrylic on canvas, 36 x 54 inches, Collection of C.Cheong, Canada

Lean Im  also portrays her mother in distinct environments, 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 signaling her interest in ascertaining character by reading a person’s face and palm. 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 in profile, 2000, wax pencil on paper, 40 x 30 cm

There are also a number of intimate and scrutinising disclosures , 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.

 Blue Shadow, 1997, Mixed media on paper, 41 x 32 cm, Collection of the Singapore Art Museum